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.

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Apocalypse Explained #1057

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1057. They whose names are not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world. That this signifies that they are those who do not acknowledge the Lord's Divine power over heaven and earth, but as transferred to some vicar, and from him to his vicars, is evident from the signification of names not written in the book of life, as denoting those who are not received in heaven (concerning which see (n. 199, 222, 299). And because those who do not acknowledge the Lord's Divine power over heaven and earth are not received in heaven, therefore these are they who are meant; and from the signification of the foundation of the world, as denoting from the establishment of the church. By the foundation of the world, in the literal or natural sense, is meant the creation of the world; but in the internal spiritual sense the establishment of the church is meant. For the spiritual sense treats of spiritual things; and the natural sense of the natural things that pertain to the world. Hence it is that by the creation of heaven and earth, in the first chapter of Genesis, in the spiritual sense, is described the new creation or establishment of the first and Most Ancient Church on this earth. That this is described by the creation of heaven and earth in the first chapter of Genesis may be seen in the Arcana Coelestia, where the things in that chapter are explained. Moreover, by creating, in the Word, is signified to reform, and by Creator, the Lord as Reformer and Saviour. That to create signifies to reform, and that by the creation of heaven and earth in the first chapter of Genesis is described, in the spiritual sense, the establishment of the Most Ancient Church, may be seen above (n. 294, 739).

[2] The establishment of the church is also meant by the foundation of the world in these passages in the Word:

"The king shall say to them on the right hand, Come and possess as a heritage the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world" (Matthew 25:34).

Jesus praying said, "Father, because thou hast loved me before the foundation of the world" (John 17:24).

Jesus said, "The blood of all the prophets, shed from the foundation of the world, shall be required of this generation" (Luke 11:50).

That the establishment of the church is meant by the foundation of the world, is evident from the passages in the Word where it is said to found the earth, the founding of the earth, and the foundation of the earth, by which is not meant the foundation or creation of the earth, but the establishment or creation of the church upon the earth. As in Zechariah:

"Jehovah who stretcheth out the heavens, and layeth the foundations of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man in the midst of him" (12:1).

Here by stretching out the heaven, and founding the earth, is not meant the stretching out of the visible heaven, and founding the habitable earth, but the church as to its internals, which are called spiritual, and as to its externals, which are called natural. To found the latter and stretch out the former is to establish; therefore it is also said, forming the spirit of man in the midst of him, which signifies his reformation and regeneration.

[3] In Isaiah:

"Attend to me, O Jacob and Israel, my hand hath founded the earth, and my right hand hath spanned the heavens" (48:12, 13).

By founding the earth with the hand, and spanning the heavens with the right hand, are signified similar things to those explained just above, as is evident from the preceding and following parts of the chapter, where the establishment of a new church by the Lord is treated of.

In the same:

"Hast forgotten Jehovah thy Maker, who stretcheth out the heavens, and foundeth the earth" (51:13).

Here also by the heavens and the earth is signified the church as to its internal or spiritual things, and as to its external or natural things and by stretching out and founding is signified to establish.

[4] In the same:

"I will put my words into thy mouth, and with the shadow of my hand will I cover thee, to plant the heavens, and to found the earth, and to say unto Zion, Thou art my people; awake, awake, arise, O Jerusalem" (51:16, 17).

Here by planting the heavens and founding the earth, is evidently meant to establish the church; for this is said unto the prophet, that the word should be put in his mouth, and that he should be covered with the shadow of the hand to plant the heavens and to found the earth. By a prophet the earth cannot be founded, but the church. Therefore also it is added, "To say unto Zion, thou art my people;" also, "Awake, awake, arise, O Jerusalem." For by Zion and by Jerusalem, in the Word, is meant the church.

In David:

"The heaven and the earth are thine; the world and the fulness thereof thou hast founded them" (Psalm 89:11).

Here in like manner by heaven and the earth is signified the church, by the world the church as to good; and by the fulness thereof are signified all the goods and truths of the church.

[5] Again:

"Jehovah hath founded the earth and the world upon the seas, and established them upon the rivers. Who shall ascend into the mountain of Jehovah, and who shall stand in the place of his holiness?" (Psalm 24:2, 3).

That the establishment of the church is described by founding the earth and the world upon the seas, and establishing them upon the rivers, may be seen above (n. 304, 518, 741). That the establishment of the church is signified, is evident from what follows here, namely, who shall ascend into the mountain of Jehovah, and who shall stand in the place of His holiness? By the mountain of Jehovah is understood Zion; whereby is signified, where the Lord reigns by means of Divine truth; and by the place of [His] holiness is meant Jerusalem, where the temple was, by which is signified the church as to doctrine. From these things it is evident, that by the foundation of the world is signified the establishment of the church. For the same is meant by the world, as by heaven and the earth. And it is said, "To found the earth;" because by the earth is signified the church on earth, and upon this heaven is founded as to its holy things.

Hence, also, it is evident what is signified by the foundations of the earth in the following passages.

In Isaiah:

"Have ye not known, have ye not heard, hath it not been declared to you from the beginning, have ye not understood the foundations of the earth?" (40:21).

In the same:

"The foundations of the earth are corrupted" (24:18).

Likewise in Isaiah 63:12; Jeremiah 31:37; Micah 6:2; Psalms 18:7, 15; 82:5; and elsewhere).

Continuation concerning the second kind of Profanation:-

[6] The reason why profaners of this kind are stupid and foolish in spiritual things, but cunning and ingenious in worldly things is, that they make one with the devils in hell.

And because, as said above, they are merely sensual, and thence are in their own proprium, which draws its delight of life from the unclean effluvia exhaled from effete things in the body, and exhaled from dunghills, from these also arise their conceit and pride when things are in their delight.

[7] That it arises from these is evident from their delights, after death, when they live as spirits; for then in preference to the most fragrant odours they love the rank stenches that arise from the air discharged from the belly, and from latrines, which smell to them more fragrant than thyme. By the breath and touch of these the interiors of the mind are closed, and the exteriors belonging to the body are opened, whence arise their eagerness in worldly matters, and their dulness in spiritual things. In a word, the love of domination by means of the holy things of the church corresponds to filth, and the delight of it to an unspeakable stench, which to the angels is most horrible. Such is the exhalation from their hells when they are opened, but because of the oppression that arises, and on account of swooning that sometimes follows, they are kept closed.

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

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Apocalypse Explained #220

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220. But it shall also be explained what is signified in the Word by temple. Temple, in the highest sense, signifies the Divine Human of the Lord, and in the relative sense, heaven; and because it signifies heaven, it also signifies the church, for the church is the Lord's heaven upon earth. And whereas temple thus signifies heaven and the church, it also signifies the Divine truth proceeding from the Lord: the reason is, that this makes heaven and the church; for those who receive Divine truth in soul and heart, that is, in faith and love, constitute heaven and the church. Such being the signification of temple, it is therefore said, the temple of my God; and by my God, when said by the Lord, is meant heaven, and the Divine truth therein, which also is the Lord in heaven. The Lord is above the heavens, and appears to its inhabitants as a Sun, and from the Lord as a Sun proceed heat and light; heat which in its essence is Divine good, and light which in its essence is Divine truth; those two constitute heaven in general and in particular. Divine truth is that which is meant by my God; this is why in the Word of the Old Testament the Lord is called Jehovah and God, - Jehovah where the subject treated of is the Divine good, and God where it is the Divine truth. This also is the reason why angels are called gods, and that God in the Hebrew tongue is in the plural Elohim. From these considerations it is evident what is here meant by the temple of my God.

(That the Lord is called Jehovah where the Divine good is treated of, but God where the Divine truth is treated of, may be seen, Arcana Coelestia 709, 732, 2586, 2769, 2807, 2822, 3921, 4283, 4402, 7010, 9167. That He is called Jehovah from Being (esse), and thus from essence, but God from Manifestation (existere), and thus from existence, n. 300, 3910, 6905; that the Divine as Being (esse) also is Divine good, and that the Divine as Manifestation (existere) is Divine truth, n. 3061, 6280, 6880, 6905, 10579; and in general that good is the being, (esse), and truth the manifestation (existere) thence, n. 5002. That angels are called gods from their reception of Divine truth from the n. 4295, 4402, 7268, 7873, 8301, 8192. That the Divine of the Lord in the heavens is Divine truth united with Divine good, may be seen in the work, Heaven and Hell 13, 133, 139, 140. That the light in the heavens is in its essence Divine truth, and the heat there Divine good, both from the Lord, may be seen in the same work, n. 126-140, 275.)

[2] That temple in the Word signifies the Divine Human of the Lord, and in the relative sense, heaven and the church, consequently also Divine truth, is evident from the following passages. In John:

To the Jews who asked, "What sign showest thou unto us, that thou doest these things? Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days? But he spake of the temple of his body" (John 2:18-21).

That temple signifies the Lord's Divine Human is here plainly declared; for by destroying the temple and raising it up in three days is meant His death, burial and resurrection.

[3] In Malachi:

"Behold, I send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me; and the Lord shall suddenly come to his temple, and the angel of the covenant whom ye seek" (3:1).

Here also by temple is meant the Lord's Divine Human; for the subject treated of is the Lord's advent, therefore coming to His temple signifies assuming the Human.

[4] Again, in the Apocalypse:

"I saw no temple" in the new Jerusalem, "for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it" (21:22).

The subject here treated of is the new heaven and the new earth, when they will be in internals, and not in externals; hence it is said that there was seen no temple, but the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb. The Lord God Almighty is the very Divine of the Lord, and the Lamb is His Divine Human; whence also it is evident, that His Divine Human in the heavens is meant by temple.

[5] Again, in Isaiah:

"I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his skirts filling the temple" (6:1).

By the throne, high and lifted up, upon which the Lord was seen to sit, is signified the Lord as to Divine truth in the higher heavens; but by His skirts is signified His Divine truth in the church. (That skirts when said of the Lord, signify His Divine truth in ultimates, may be seen, Arcana Coelestia 9917. That the veil of the temple being rent into two parts from the top to the bottom, after the Lord suffered (Matthew 27:51; Mark 15:38; Luke 23:45), signified the union of the Lord's Divine Human with the Divine itself, may be seen, Arcana Coelestia 9670.)

[6] That by temple is signified the Lord's Divine Human, and at the same time heaven and the church, is evident in the following passages. In David:

"I will bow myself down toward thy holy temple, and I will confess thy name" (Psalms 138:2).

In Jonah:

"I said I am cast out from before thine eyes, but yet will I add to look back to the temple of thy holiness, and my prayer came to thee to the temple of thy holiness" (2:4, 7).

In Habakkuk:

"Jehovah in the temple of his holiness" (2:20).

In Matthew:

"Woe unto you, ye blind guides, which say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor! Ye fools and blind; for whether is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifieth the gold?" (23:16, 17).

In John:

Jesus said unto them that sold in the temple, "Take these things hence; make not my Father's house an house of merchandize. Whence his disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up" (2:16, 17).

[7] Besides the above, there are many passages in the Word where temple is mentioned, which I wish to adduce, in order that it may be known that heaven and the church are thereby meant, as also the Divine truth proceeding from the Lord, lest the mind should adhere to the idea, that the temple alone is meant instead of something more holy; for the holiness of the temple of Jerusalem arose from the fact that it represented and signified what is holy.

That the temple signified heaven is clear from these passages. In David:

"I called upon Jehovah, and cried unto my God; he heard my voice out of his temple" (Psalms 18:6).

Again:

"A day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather stand at the door in the house of my God, than dwell in the tents of wickedness" (Psalms 84:10).

Again:

"The just shall flourish like the palm-tree; he shall grow like the cedar in Lebanon. They who are planted in the house of Jehovah shall flourish in the courts of our God" (Psalms 92:12, 13).

Again:

"One thing have I desired of Jehovah, that I may dwell in the house of Jehovah all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of Jehovah, and to visit his temple in the morning" (Psalms 27:4).

Again:

"I shall be at rest in the house of Jehovah for length of days" (Psalms 23:6).

[8] In John:

Jesus said: "In my Father's house are many mansions" (14:2).

That heaven and the church are meant in these passages by the house of Jehovah and of the Father is clear. The church is also meant in the following passages. In Isaiah:

"Our holy and our beautiful house, where our fathers praised thee, is burned with fire" (64:11).

In Jeremiah:

"I have forsaken my house, I have left mine heritage" (12:7).

In Haggai:

"I will stir up all nations, that the choice of all nations may come; and I will fill this house with glory. The silver is mine, and the gold is mine. The glory of this latter house shall be greater than that of the former" (Haggai 2:7-9).

In Isaiah:

"He shall say to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built; and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid" (44:28).

The subject here treated of is the coming of the Lord, and the New Church to be then established. In Zechariah:

"The house of Jehovah was founded, that the temple may be built" (8:9).

Similarly in Daniel:

"Belshazzar commanded to bring the golden and silver vessels which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple in Jerusalem, that they might drink therein; and they drank wine, and praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone and then writing appeared on the wall" (5:2-4).

By the golden and silver vessels which were brought from the temple of Jerusalem are signified the goods and truths of the church; by their drinking wine out of them, and praising the gods of gold, of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and stone, is signified the profanation of them, on which account the writing appeared on the wall, and the king was changed from a man into a beast.

[9] In Matthew:

"His disciples came to him for to show him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said unto them, See ye all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be dissolved" (24:1, 2; Mark 13:1, 2; Luke 21:5, 6, 7).

That there should not be left of the temple one stone upon another which should not be dissolved, signifies the total destruction and vastation of the church; for stone signifies the truth of the church; and it therefore follows that the successive vastation of the church is treated of in those chapters in the Evangelists. In the Apocalypse:

"The angel stood, saying, Rise and measure the temple of God and the altar, and them that worship therein" (11:1).

By the temple here also is signified the church, and by measuring it, is signified to explore its quality. The signification of the new temple and its measurements, mentioned in Ezekiel, is similar (Ezekiel 40-47).

[10] That by temple is signified the Divine truth proceeding from the Lord, is evident from the following passages in Ezekiel:

"The glory of Jehovah went up from above the cherub over the threshold of the house; and the house was filled with the cloud, and the court was full of the brightness of the glory of Jehovah" (10:4).

By the house is here meant heaven and the church, and by the cloud and glory Divine truth. (That cloud denotes Divine truth may be seen above, n. 36; and that glory signifies the same, n. 33.)

[11] In Micah:

"Many nations shall go, and say, Come and let us go up to the mountain of Jehovah, and to the house of" our "God, that he may teach us of his ways, and that we may go in his paths; for from Zion shall go forth doctrine, and the word from Jerusalem" (4:2).

The mountain of Jehovah and the house of God signify the church, and similarly Zion and Jerusalem; to be taught of His ways, and to go in His paths, is to be instructed in Divine truths; therefore it is also said,

"From Zion shall go forth doctrine, and the word from Jerusalem."

[12] In Isaiah:

"The voice of the tumult from the city, the voice of Jehovah from the temple" (66:6).

By the city is meant the doctrine of truth, by temple, the church, and by the voice of Jehovah from the temple, Divine truth. In the Apocalypse:

"There came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying" (16:17).

Here voice also denotes Divine truth. Again:

"The temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in the temple the ark of his covenant: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings" (11:19).

By lightnings, voices, and thunderings in the Word are signified Divine truths from heaven (see Arcana Coelestia 7573, 8914). And again:

"The temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened. And the seven angels went out of the temple having the seven plagues. And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power" (15:5, 6, 8).

The seven angels are said to go out of the temple in heaven, because by angels are signified Divine truths, as may be seen above (n. 130, 200). What is signified by smoke from the glory of God will be seen in the explanation of those words in the following pages. Moreover, it must be known that by the temple which was built by Solomon, as also by the house of the forest of Lebanon, and by each particular thing pertaining to them, as recorded in the first book of Kings (6 and 7), are signified spiritual and celestial things pertaining to the church and to heaven.

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