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.

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Apocalypse Explained #1121

Study this Passage

  
/ 1232  
  

1121. And am not a widow.- That this signifies that they are not without protection is evident from the signification of a widow, as denoting one who is in the affection for good, and from that affection desires truth. A widow signifies here [without] protection, and therefore not to be a widow, signifies not to be without protection, because good and its affection do not protect themselves, but are protected by truth and the understanding of it; for man, who is the protector of woman, signifies the understanding of truth, thus truth. Between the marriage of man and woman and the marriage of truth and good there is a perfect resemblance; for man is born to be the understanding of truth, and therefore this predominates with him; and woman is born to be affection for good, and therefore this predominates with her. And as good and truth love each other in return and desire to be conjoined; so do the understanding of truth and the affection or will of good. The conjugial love of a husband and wife also derives its origin from the spiritual marriage of truth and good; on this subject see Heaven and Hell 366-386).

[2] The signification of widow here and in Isaiah is similar:

"Hear this, thou delicate one, sitting securely, saying in thine heart I and none as I besides; I shall not sit a widow, neither shall I know bereavement; but these two evils shall come upon thee in a moment, the loss of children and widowhood" (47:8, 9).

This also is said of Babel, and has a signification similar to that of these words in the Apocalypse: "I am not a widow, and shall not see mourning; therefore in one day shall her plagues come to thee, death, and mourning, and famine." By widows, also in other parts of the Word, are signified both males and females who are in good and not in truth, and yet desire truth, thus those who are without protection against falsity and evil, whom nevertheless the Lord defends. These are also meant in the opposite sense in Isaiah 9:17; chap. 10:1, 2; Jerem. 15:7, 8, 9; chap. 22:3; chap. 49:10, 11; Lament. 5:3; Ezekiel 22:6, 7; David, Psalm 68:5; Psalm 146:9; Exodus 22:22-24; Dent. 10:18; chap. 27:19; Matthew 23:14; Luke 20:47; and elsewhere.

[3] Continuation concerning the Athanasian Creed, and concerning the Lord.- Life considered in itself, which is God, cannot create another being, to be life itself; for the life which is God is uncreated, continuous, and inseparable; for this reason God is one. But the life which is God can create out of substances forms that are not lives in which it can exist, and impart to them the appearance of life. These forms are men, which, because they are receptacles of life, could not, in the primary creation, be any thing but images and likenesses of God - images from the reception of truth, and likenesses from the reception of good; for life and its recipient adapt themselves to each other like active and passive, but do not intermingle. Human forms, which are recipients of life, do not therefore live from themselves, but from God, who alone is life; consequently, all the good of love and all the truth of faith are from God, and nothing from man, as is known. For if the smallest part of life were a man's own, he would be able to will and do good from himself, and also understand and believe truth from himself, and thus claim merit when nevertheless, if he believes this, then the form recipient of life becomes closed above and perverted, and intelligence perishes. Good and its love, together with truth and its faith, are the life which is God, for God is good itself, and truth itself; in these He therefore dwells with man. From these things it also follows, that man of himself is nothing, and that he is only so far anything in the measure that he receives from the Lord, and at the same time acknowledges that what he receives is not his own but the Lord's; the Lord then causes him to be something, although not from himself but from the Lord.

  
/ 1232  
  

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

The Bible

 

Psalms 74:16

Study

       

16 The day is thine, the night also is thine: thou hast prepared the light and the sun.