The Bible

 

Genesis 1:1

Study

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #31

Study this Passage

  
/ 10837  
  

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 Jehovah will be for you an everlasting light; your sun will no more go down nor your moon be withdrawn, for Jehovah will be for you an everlasting light.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

  
/ 10837  
  

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

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #2780

Study this Passage

  
/ 10837  
  

2780. 'In the morning Abraham rose up early' means a state of peace and innocence. This is clear from the meaning of 'in the morning', also of 'rising up in the early morning', when used in reference to the Lord, who is 'Abraham' here. 'The morning' in the universal sense means the Lord, and from this His kingdom. Consequently it means the celestial element of love in general and in particular, as shown in 2333. And as it means those things it means the state itself in which they exist, which state is one of peace and innocence. The state of peace in heaven is like that at dawn on earth. Within the state of peace in heaven all celestial and spiritual things manifest themselves, and from it they derive all their bliss, blessedness, and happiness, even as at dawn on earth when all things present themselves to man with a delightful and gladsome air, for each specific celestial or spiritual thing receives its character from the general affection, 920, 2384. The same applies to the state of innocence. This manifests itself within the state of peace and is something general and overall which brings itself to bear on all things of love and faith. Unless the latter possess innocence within them they lack their essential element. It is for this reason that nobody is able to enter heaven unless he possesses a measure of innocence, Mark 10:15. From this it is evident what 'in the morning' means in the internal sense, even more what is meant by the words 'in the morning he rose up early'. And since in the highest sense 'the morning' is the Lord, and He is the author of the state which brings into being and exerts an influence on the things that exist in His kingdom, 'in the morning' and 'rising up in the morning' also mean further things still which arise in that state and are related to the things that follow in the internal sense.

  
/ 10837  
  

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