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 #1119

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1119. So much torment and mourning give her, signifies so much of infernal punishment and desolation. This is evident from the signification of "torment," as being infernal punishment; also from the signification of "mourning," as being desolation, which is from their no longer having anything of truth or good, but mere falsity and evil. It is said that "as much torment and mourning should be given as she glorified herself and lived luxuriously," because all torment or infernal punishment corresponds exactly to the evils in which such persons are. Those, therefore, who have glorified themselves much and have taken delight in the love of having dominion over heaven and over the church, and for the sake of that glory and consequent delight have perverted the goods of heaven and the church which belong to the Word, have their lot in a hell more grievous in respect to torment; while those who have glorified and delighted themselves less in such things have their lot in a milder hell; and those who have not glorified themselves at all, and thus have not perverted the goods and truths of heaven and the church, which are from the Word, but have simply rendered obedience to them either ignorantly or from persuasion, do not have their lot in hell; and such people as have no part in dominion, especially those who look to the Lord and have some affection of truth, have their lot in the heavens, where they are taught by the angels. From all this it can be seen that here, where Babylon is treated of, only those are meant who exercise dominion from the delight of the love of it for the sake of self.

(Continuation respecting the Athanasian Faith and respecting the Lord)

[2] That God is Man and that the Lord is that Man is made evident by all things that are in the heavens and that are beneath the heavens. In the heavens all things that proceed from the Lord in greatest and in least things are either in the human form or have reference to the human form; the whole heaven is in the human form; every society of heaven is in the human form; every angel is in the human form; and also every spirit beneath the heavens; and it has been revealed to me that all things both least and greatest that proceed immediately from the Lord are in that form, for that which proceeds from God is an image of Him. This is why it is said of the man Adam and Eve:

That they were created into the image and likeness of God (Genesis 1:26-27).

[3] And for the same reason the angels in the heavens, because they are recipients of the Divine that proceeds from the Lord, are men of wonderful beauty, while the spirits in the hells, because they do not receive the Divine that proceeds from the Lord, are devils, and in the light of heaven they do not appear as men but as monsters. And on this account it is known in the spiritual world from one's human form how much he derives from the Lord. From all this it can be seen that the Lord is the only Man, and that everyone is a man according to his reception of Divine good and Divine truth from the Lord. In a word, he who sees God as Man sees God because he sees the Lord. And the Lord says:

He that seeth the Son and believeth in Him hath eternal life (John 6:40).

To see the Son is to see Him in spirit, for this is said also to those who did not see him in the world.

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

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #3008

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3008. The first point - that Christ is the same as Messiah, Anointed, and King - is evident from the following places in the Word: In John,

Andrew found his own brother Simon and said to him, We have found the Messiah, which when interpreted is the Christ. John 1:41.

In the same gospel,

Many from the crowd as they heard this utterance said, This is truly the prophet. Others said, This is the Christ. But others said, Surely the Christ is not therefore going to come from Galilee? Does not the Scripture say that the Christ is going to come from the seed of David, and from Bethlehem, the town where David was? John 7:40-42.

'The Christ' plainly stands for the Messiah whom they awaited. In the same gospel,

Do the rulers indeed acknowledge that this is indeed the Christ? Yet we know where this man is from, whereas when the Christ comes no one knows where He is from. John 7:25-27.

'The Christ' stands for the Messiah. No one knew where He was from because He was unacknowledged. In the same gospel,

The Jews gathered round Jesus and said to Him, How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ tell us plainly. Jesus answered them, I told you and you do not believe. John 10:24-25.

Here also 'the Christ' stands for the Messiah whom they awaited. In the same gospel,

The crowd answered, We have heard from the Law that the Christ remains for ever. John 12:34.

'The Christ' stands for 'the Messiah'. In the same gospel,

Martha said, I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world. John 11:27.

That is, Martha believed that He was the Messiah. In Luke,

There was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. He had received an answer from the Holy Spirit that he would not see death until he had seen the Lord's Christ. Luke 2:25-26.

This stands for the Messiah or Jehovah's Anointed. In the same gospel,

Jesus said to the disciples, But whom do you say that I am? Peter answered and said, God's Christ. Luke 9:20; Mark 8:29.

And there are other instances besides these, such as Matthew 26:63-64; John 6:68-69; Mark 14:61-62.

[2] Since the names Christ and Messiah are one and the same - Christ in Greek and Messiah in Hebrew meaning the Anointed - it is therefore evident that Christ is one and the same as the Anointed. It is also one and the same as King, for kings were generally called the anointed, as is evident from many places in the Historical sections of the Word, as well as the Prophetical, as in David,

The kings of the earth have set themselves, and the princes have taken counsel together against Jehovah and against His Anointed. Psalms 2:2.

In the same author,

Now I know that Jehovah saves His Anointed. He will answer Him from His holy heaven with the mighty acts of His saving right hand. Psalms 20:6.

In the same author,

Jehovah is their strength, and the saving strength of His Anointed. Psalms 28:8.

In Samuel,

Jehovah will give strength to His king, and exalt the horn of His Anointed. 1 Samuel 2:10.

In these and many other places elsewhere 'the anointed' stands for the king. The word used in the original language is Messiah. In all these prophetical utterances the subject in the internal sense is the Lord, who is the King, as is also evident from the New Testament, as in Matthew,

The governor asked Jesus, Are you the King of the Jews? Jesus said to him, You say so. Matthew 27:11.

In Luke,

Pilate asked Jesus, saying, Are you the King of the Jews? He answering him said, You say so. Luke 23:3; Mark 15:2.

In John,

They cried, Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel. John 12:13.

In the same gospel,

Nathanael said, Rabbi, You are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel! John 1:49.

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