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 Revealed #778

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778. "And wine, oil, flour, wheat." This symbolically means that these Roman Catholics no longer have any worship that springs from celestial truths and goods, because they have nothing inwardly in their worship that corresponds to the aforesaid things.

This statement is similar to ones explained just above and in previous numbers, the only difference being that the valuables here symbolize celestial goods and truths.

Just what goods and truths are called celestial, and what spiritual, may be seen in no. 773 above. It may also be seen that the Roman Catholics meant here possess none of these, nor are there any in their worship. For, as we said above, the goods and truths of doctrine are present in worship as the soul is in the body. Consequently worship without these is a lifeless worship. Of such a character is worship that is reverent in outward appearances, but which has in it no internal reverence.

That wine symbolizes truth springing from the goodness of love may be seen in no. 316 above. That oil symbolizes the goodness of love will be seen in the next number. Flour symbolizes celestial truth, and wheat symbolizes celestial good.

[2] Wine, oil, flour and wheat symbolize the truths and goods in worship, because they were the ingredients in drink offerings and grain offerings, which were offered on the altar along with other sacrifices, and sacrifices and other offerings offered on the altar symbolize worship, since it was in these that the Israelites' worship chiefly consisted.

That drink offerings, which were ones of wine, were offered on the altar along with other sacrifices, can be seen in Exodus 29:40; Leviticus 23:12-13, 18-19; Numbers 15:2-15; 28:11-15, 18-31; 29:1-7ff.; and also in Isaiah 57:6; 65:11; Jeremiah 7:18; 44:17-19; Ezekiel 20:28; Joel 1:9; Psalms 16:4; Deuteronomy 32:38.

That oil was also offered on the altar along with sacrifices, can be seen in Exodus 29:40.

That grain offerings, which consisted of wheat flour, were offered on the altar along with other sacrifices, can be seen in Exodus 29:40).

It can be seen from this that these four articles - wine, oil, flour and wheat - were sacred and celestial elements in their worship.

  
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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.

The Bible

 

Ezekiel 16:17

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17 Thou hast also taken thy fair jewels of my gold and of my silver, which I had given thee, and madest to thyself images of men, and didst commit whoredom with them,