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 #751

Study this Passage

  
/ 1232  
  

751. Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them.- That this signifies the salvation and consequent joy of those who become spiritual by the reception of Divine Truth, is evident from the signification of rejoicing, as denoting joy on account of salvation; from the signification of the heavens, as denoting those who are spiritual (concerning which we shall speak presently); and from the signification of ye that dwell, as denoting those who live, here spiritually. That to dwell signifies to live, may be seen above (n. 133, 479, 662). The heavens signify those who are spiritual, because all who are in the heavens are spiritual, and because men who have become spiritual are also in the heavens, although they are in the world as to the body; therefore ye that dwell in the heavens means not only angels, but also men, for every man with whom the interior mind, which is called the spiritual mind, has been opened, is in the heavens, indeed, he also sometimes appears amongst the angels there. That this is so, has not been known in the world up to the present time. It must therefore be understood, that man as to his spirit is among spirits and angels, and indeed in that society of them into which he is to come after death. The reason of this is that the spiritual mind of man is formed exactly according to the image of heaven, and in such a way that it is a heaven in least form; consequently that mind, although still in the body, must nevertheless be where its form is. But this has been more fully dealt with in Heaven and Hell 51-58), where it is shown that every angel, and also every man as to his interiors, if he be spiritual, is a heaven in its least form, corresponding to heaven in its greatest form. For this reason where the Word treats of the creation of heaven and earth, the internal and external church is in general meant, and, in particular, the internal and external man, that is the spiritual and natural man. From these things it is evident that the heavens and those that dwell in them signify all who are there, and also those men who are becoming spiritual by the reception of Divine Truth in doctrine and life.

  
/ 1232  
  

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

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Apocalypse Explained #476

Study this Passage

  
/ 1232  
  

476. And have made their robes white in the blood of the Lamb, signifies the implantation of Divine truth from the Lord. This is evident from the signification of "making robes white," as meaning to put off falsities and to put on truths, for "white" and "to be made white," are predicated of truths, and these are signified by "robes." (That "white" and "to be made white," are predicated of truths, see above, n. 196; and that "robes" signify truths in general see above, n. 395.) It is said "made their robes white," because the garments of those who are in falsities appear in the spiritual world dusky and also spotted, and the garments of those who are in temptations appear filthy; but as soon as they emerge from temptations, as they have then been imbued with Divine truths, white and shining garments without spots appear upon them, as was mentioned just above. This is why "they have made their robes white" signifies that they have put off falsities and put on truths. The above is evident also from the signification of "the blood of the Lamb" as being Divine truth proceeding from the Lord (of which above, n. 329 e New Jerusalem 293, 294, and in the extracts there from the Arcana Coelestia.) This can be seen from this also, that the garments of angels appear glistening from what is white and bright, not from faith in and thought about the blood of the Lord on the cross, but from Divine truth with them from the Lord; for, as was said above, their garments are all in accord with the truths with them; nor is any angel permitted to think of the Lord's passion, but only of His glorification, and of the reception by Him of the Divine.); and because in temptations falsities are shaken off, and truths are implanted, so in general, "they have made their robes white in the blood of the Lamb" signifies the implantation of Divine truth from the Lord. In the sense of the letter of the Word, "the blood of the Lamb" means the passion of the cross, but in the internal or spiritual sense it means Divine truth proceeding from the Lord; for it is by this that man is purified from falsities and evils, that is, his garments are made white. The passion of the cross was the Lord's last temptation, by which He fully subjugated the hells, and glorified His Human; and when this was accomplished and completed, the Lord sent the Comforter, the Spirit of Truth, by which is meant Divine truth proceeding from His glorified Human, as the Lord teaches in John (John 7:39) and elsewhere. It is by means of Divine truth, when it is received, that man is reformed and regenerated by the Lord and saved, and not by the shedding of blood on the cross. (On this more may be seen in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 293-294.)

  
/ 1232  
  

Thanks to the Swedenborg Foundation for their permission to use this translation.