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 #256

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256. It was said above, that by the seven churches here written to, are not meant seven churches, but all those who belong to the church, and, in the abstract, all things of the church; that this is the case is evident from the consideration, that by seven are signified all, and all things, and that by the names are signified things. That all who belong to the church, or all things of the church, are meant by what is written to those seven churches is also evident from the explanation of those things. For all things of the church have reference to the following four general principles, doctrine, life according to it, faith according to life. These are treated of in what is written to six of the churches - doctrine, to the churches in Ephesus and Smyrna; life according to doctrine, to the churches in Thyatira and Sardis; and faith according to life, to the churches in Philadelphia and Laodicea. And because doctrine cannot be implanted in man's life and become a matter of faith unless he fights against the evils and falsities which he possesses from heredity, therefore that combat is also treated of in what is written to the church in Pergamos; for the subject there treated of is temptations; and temptations are combats against evils and falsities.

(That temptations are treated of in what is written to the church in Pergamos may be seen above, n. 130; that doctrine is the subject treated of in what is written to the churches in Ephesus and Smyrna may be seen above also, n. 93, 95, 112; that a life according to doctrine is treated of in what is written to the churches in Thyatira and Sardis, (n. 150, 182, and that faith according to life is treated of in what is written to the churches of Philadelphia and Laodicea, n. 203 and 227.) Because in what is written to this last church, namely, that in Laodicea, those who are in the doctrine of faith alone are treated of, and also, at the end, the nature of faith originating in charity, to what has already been said, it is here to be added, that love constitutes heaven; and because it does so, it also forms the church. For all the societies of heaven, which are innumerable, are arranged according to the affections of love, and also all within each society; so that it is affection, or love, according to which all things are arranged in the heavens, and not in any case faith alone. Spiritual affection, or love, is charity. It is therefore clear that no one can ever enter heaven unless he is in charity.

  
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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 Revealed #50

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50. And His voice as the sound of many waters. This symbolizes natural Divine truth.

A voice, when coming from the Lord, symbolizes Divine truth, as may be seen in no. 37 above. Waters symbolize truths, and specifically natural truths, which are concepts from the Word, as follows from many passages in the Word, of which we cite only the following:

...the earth is full of the knowledge of Jehovah, as the waters cover the sea. (Isaiah 11:9)

With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. (Isaiah 12:3)

He who walks righteously and speaks uprightly...: bread will be given him, (and) his water will be constant. (Isaiah 33:15-16)

The poor and needy seek water, but there is none; their tongue fails for thirst... I will open rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys; I will turn the wilderness into a pool of water, and the dry land into springs of water..., that they may see, know, consider and understand... (Isaiah 41:17-18, 20)

I will pour out water on him who is thirsty, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out My Spirit... (Isaiah 44:3)

...your light shall rise in the darkness..., that you may be like a watered garden, and like an issue of water, whose waters do not deceive. (Isaiah 58:10-11)

...My people have committed two evils: they have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, and hewn themselves cisterns... that hold no water. (Jeremiah 2:13)

Their great ones have sent their young ones for water. They went to the cisterns and found no water. Their vessels came back empty. (Jeremiah 14:3)

...they have forsaken Jehovah, the fountain of living waters. (Jeremiah 17:13)

They shall come with weeping, and with prayers I will lead them. I will lead them to a fountain of waters, in the way of rectitude... (Jeremiah 31:9)

...I will break the staff of bread... and they shall drink water by measure and with astonishment..., so that... they waste away because of their iniquities. (Ezekiel 4:16-17; cf. 12:18-19, Isaiah 51:14)

Behold, the days will come... when I will send hunger on the land, not a hunger for bread, nor a thirst for water, but for hearing the words of Jehovah. They shall wander from sea to sea, and... shall run to and fro, to hear the word of Jehovah, but shall not find it. In that day the... young women and the young men shall faint for thirst. (Amos 8:11-13)

In that day... living waters shall flow from Jerusalem... (Zechariah 14:8)

Jehovah is my shepherd..., He leads me to still waters. (Psalms 23:1-2)

They did not thirst...; He caused waters to flow from the rock for them, and He split the rock, so that waters gushed out. (Isaiah 48:21)

O God..., in the morning will I seek You; My soul thirsts...; ...(I am) weary, without water. (Psalms 63:1)

(Jehovah) sends out His word...; He causes (the) wind to blow, so that the waters flow. (Psalms 147:18)

Praise (Jehovah), you heavens of heavens, and you waters from above the heavens! (Psalms 148:4)

(Jesus sitting by Jacob's well said to the woman,) "Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will not thirst to eternity. And the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life." (John 4:7-15)

(Jesus said,) "If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture says, out of his belly will flow rivers of living water." (John 7:37-38)

To him who thirsts I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely. (Revelation 21:6)

He showed (him) a... river of the water of life..., proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. (Revelation 22:1)

And the Spirit and the bride say, "Come!" And let him who hears say, "Come!" And let him who thirsts come. And whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely. (Revelation 22:17)

Waters in these passages mean truths, and it is apparent from this that the sound of many waters means the Lord's Divine truth in the Word, as also in the following places:

Behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east, and His voice was like the sound of many waters; and the earth was illumined by His glory. (Ezekiel 43:2)

I heard a voice from heaven, like the sound of many waters... (Revelation 14:2)

The voice of Jehovah is on the waters...; Jehovah is on many waters. (Psalms 29:3)

When it is known that waters in the Word mean truths in the natural self, it can be seen what washings in the Israelite Church symbolized, and also what baptism symbolizes, and moreover what is symbolically meant by these words of the Lord in John,

Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. (John 3:5)

"Of water" means, symbolically, "by truths," and "of the Spirit" means, symbolically, "by a life in accordance with them."

In an opposite sense, waters symbolize falsities, as we will see in subsequent explanations.

  
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Many thanks to the General Church of the New Jerusalem, and to Rev. N.B. Rogers, translator, for the permission to use this translation.