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

 

Arcana Coelestia #31

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31. That 'the great lights' mean love and faith, and are also mentioned as the sun, the moon, and the stars, is clear from various places in the Prophets, as in Ezekiel,

When I have blotted you out, I will cover the heavens and darken their stars, I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon will not give its light. All the bright lights in the heavens I will make dark over you, and I will put darkness over your land. Ezekiel 32:7-8.

This refers to Pharaoh and the Egyptians, who are used in the Word to mean the sensory and the factual. The meaning here is that they will have blotted out love and faith by means of sensory evidence and factual knowledge. In Isaiah,

The day of Jehovah for making the earth a desolation; for the stars of the heavens and their constellations 1 will not give their light; the sun will be darkened in its rising, and the moon will not shed its light. Isaiah 13:9-10.

In Joel,

The day of Jehovah is coming, a day of darkness and thick darkness. The earth quakes before Him, the heavens tremble, the sun and moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining. Joel 2:10.

[2] In Isaiah, in reference to the Lord's Coming and the enlightenment of gentiles, and so to a new Church, in particular to individuals who are in darkness but who are beginning to receive the light and be regenerated,

Arise, shine, for your light has come. Behold, darkness is covering the earth, and thick darkness the peoples, but Jehovah will arise upon you, and nations will walk towards your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising. Jehovah will be for you an everlasting light; your sun will no more go down nor your moon be withdrawn, for Jehovah will be for you an everlasting light. Isaiah 60:1-3, 19-20.

In David,

Jehovah makes the heavens by intelligence, He spreads out the earth upon the waters, He makes the great lights, the sun to have dominion over the day, and the moon and stars to have dominion over the night. Psalms 136:5-9.

And in the same author,

Praise Jehovah, sun and moon, praise Him, all stars of light! Praise Him, heaven of heavens, and waters that are above the heavens! Psalms 148:3-4.

[3] In all of these places 'the lights' mean love and faith. Because the lights represented and meant love and faith in the Lord, the Jewish Church was commanded to keep a light burning all the time from evening till morning, for every command which that Church received was representative of the Lord. Concerning this light it is said,

Command the sons of Israel that they take oil for the light, to cause a lamp to burn continually. In the Tent of Meeting outside the veil which is before the testimony Aaron and his sons shall tend it from evening to morning before Jehovah. [Exodus 27:20-21]

That this means the love and faith which the Lord kindles and causes to shine in the internal man, and by means of the internal man in the external man, will in the Lord's Divine mercy be shown at that point in Exodus.

Footnotes:

1. literally, orions

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

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Apocalypse Explained #529

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529. And I beheld, and I heard one angel flying in the midst of heaven.- That this signifies the Lord enlightening all in the heavens concerning the state of the church at its end, is evident from the signification of seeing and hearing, as denoting to open the understanding to perceive, concerning which we shall speak presently; and from the signification of angel, as denoting the Lord; that angels in the Word mean the Divine Truth proceeding from the Lord, thus the Lord Himself, as to Divine Truth, may be seen above (n. 130, 200, 302); here the Lord, as to revealing what the quality of the church would be in the last times as to the reception of the Divine Truth; and from the signification of flying, as denoting to enlighten and impart understanding, concerning which also we shall speak presently; and from the signification of "in the midst of heaven," as denoting in the whole heaven, or all who are in the heavens. That in the midst signifies in the whole, and thus all, may be seen above (n. 213). It is evident therefore, that, "I beheld, and I heard an angel flying in the midst of heaven," signifies the enlightenment of all in the heavens concerning the state of the church at its end. Illustration concerning the state of the church is signified, because this is the subject treated of in what follows. The reason why seeing and hearing signify the opening of the understanding to perceive, is, that to see signifies to understand, and to hear signifies to perceive. That to see signifies to understand, may be seen above (n. 260); and that to hear signifies to perceive, may also be seen above (n. 14, 108).

[2] To fly, when stated of the Lord, signifies to enlighten, because "to fly" is used in reference to the understanding, and to the extension of the sight thereof round about; when therefore it is stated of the Lord, it signifies the enlightenment of the understanding. That to fly when stated of the Lord signifies omnipresence, may be seen above (n. 282); it therefore also signifies enlightenment, for where the Lord is present, there is illustration. The same is signified by flying, in David:

God "rode upon a cherub, and did fly; yea, he was carried upon the wings of the wind" (Psalm 18:10; 2 Sam. 22:11).

A cherub signifies the inmost heaven; riding signifies to give understanding, and to enlighten, flying, and being carried upon the wings of the wind, have a similar signification. But by riding is signified to give understanding and to enlighten, here the inmost heaven, signified by a cherub. Flying also signifies to give understanding to and to enlighten the middle heaven; but by being carried upon the wings of the wind, signifies to give understanding and to enlighten the ultimate heaven. That to ride signifies to give understanding, may be seen above (n. 355, 364); and that cherub signifies the inmost heaven, may be seen above (n. 313, 322, 362, 462). To fly signifies to enlighten the middle heaven, because this heaven is the spiritual heaven, and spiritual things in the Word are signified by various birds, and by their wings and flights. The reason why to be carried upon the wings of the wind signifies to enlighten the ultimate heaven is, that wings pertain to flying, and here signify illustration; and wind signifies the Spiritual of this heaven. By all these things is therefore described the omnipresence of the Lord in the heavens, and hence also the enlightening of the understanding; for as was said above, where the Lord is present, there is enlightenment.

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