Genesis 1, in its literal sense, tells the story of creation.

This is an ancient, ancient story of humankind. It was written down by Moses some 3300 years ago, but it’s far older than that. It was part of the “Oral Torah”, an oral tradition among Abraham and his descendants, and it’s a remnant from the Ancient Word, which dated back perhaps 5000 years in written form, and, again, far earlier in stories told around the campfires of countless peoples.

It’s not just ancient; it’s scientific! The sun and moon are out of sequence, but on the whole, it’s a pretty sound telescoping of what we know from astrophysics and geology and archeology.

And... here’s the main thing: It’s sacred. In its literal sense, it’s the story of God creating a world that can support life, and then living souls, and then human beings who can receive His love, and return it freely.

It is also a story that’s incredibly rich in symbolic meaning. At a deep level, it's telling us how people are born into a life focused on the world and its material distractions, but in time can be transformed by God into spiritual people. Each day described in the chapter refers to a new stage in the regeneration or rebirth of a human being, until we finally become heavenly in nature.

Here’s a brief chapter outline (and see Arcana Coelestia 6 for further reference!):

• (Genesis 1:1-2) God creates the heavens and the earth. All is formless, and empty, and dark, but the spirit of God is brooding over the waters. This refers to a stage of life when we're still living in spiritual darkness. We haven't yet started to turn towards God. (See Arcana Coelestia 7)
• (3-5) God creates light, on the first day. Here, we're at the stage where we understand that God really exists, and the light he's giving us represents our dawning understanding.
• (6-8) God creates an expanse in the midst of the waters, and calls it the Heavens, on the second day. This represents some knowledges about truth that God is beginning to establish in our minds. (See Arcana Coelestia 8)
• (9-13) On the third day, God separates the land and the seas, and causes herbs and fruit trees to grow. This represents a spiritual stage when the truths we know and the good loves we're cultivating are beginning to bear fruit. (See Arcana Coelestia 9)
• (14-19) On the fourth day, God creates the sun and the moon, to rule the day and the night. The sun represents love, and the moon represents faith. The light of truth and the warmth of good loves are beginning to rule our lives. When evening comes, we have periods of doubt, and need to rely on our faith to pull us through. (See Arcana Coelestia 10)
• (20-23) On the fifth day, God creates fishes and whales and birds – “every living soul” – and they are told to be be fruitful and multiply. Now, we're bringing forth deeper, better understandings of truth and good, and living and speaking from conviction. (See Arcana Coelestia 11)
• (24-31) On the sixth day, God makes land animals, and then, in verse 26, he makes man, in His own image, male and female. He blesses them, and tells them, too, to be fruitful and multiply, and gives them dominion over the plants and animals. This day represents a state where we're reaching our human potentiality -- being spiritual people. The animals represent our affections for spiritual truth and good. We are beginning to be an image of God, when we're reflecting the good that flows into us from God. (See Arcana Coelestia 12)

As the chapter ends, God rests from His work. This describes a heavenly state of being, in which we have learned to love what's good and true, and we have learned how to live by these loves.

Not all people reach the seventh day in their spiritual development. Most people stay at the first state; some make it to the second; a few others the third, fourth and fifth; and very few the sixth. People today, as throughout history, are over-focused on their sensory knowledge and the pursuit of worldly aims including money, status, power, and comfort. But... God is brooding over the waters; he's waiting for us to say, "OK, let's get started on living a better life."

In the pages and verses that follow, you’ll gain a greater insight into the life we are actually meant to live.

Key spiritual lessons from this chapter: The Lord is always calling us, inviting us to walk the path that leads to a close relationship with Him. He gives us life, and then leads us through the steps of regeneration. It is up to us to listen, to follow His truths, and to turn our life over to Him. As we learn and grow, He will transform us into a spiritual person in His image and likeness.

6. Genesis 1

1. In the beginning God created heaven and earth.

2. And the earth was a void and an emptiness, and there was thick darkness over the face ¹ of the deep; and the Spirit of God was hovering over the face ¹ of the waters.

3. And God said, Let there be light; and there was light.

4. And God saw that the light was good; and God made a distinction between the light and the darkness.

5. And God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. And there was evening, and there was morning, the first day.

6. And God said, Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let there be a distinguishing of the waters from the waters.

7. And God made the expanse and He made a distinction between the waters that were under the expanse and the waters that were above the expanse; and it was so.

8. And God called the expanse Heaven. And there was evening, and there was morning, a second day.

9. And God said, Let the waters under heaven be gathered together to 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 He called Seas; and God saw that it was good.

11. And God said, Let the earth cause tender plants to spring up, seed-bearing plants, fruit trees bearing fruit, each according to its kind, in which is its seed, upon the earth; and it was so.

12. And the earth brought forth tender herbs, seed-bearing plants, each according to its kind, and trees bearing fruit, in which is their seed, each according to its kind; and God saw that it was good.

13. And there was evening, and there was morning, a third day.

14. And God said, Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens, to make a distinction between the day and the night; and they will be for signs, and for set times, and for days and years.

15. And they will be for lights in the expanse of the heavens, to give light upon the earth; and it was so.

16. And God made the two great lights, the greater light to have dominion over the day, and the lesser light to have dominion over the night; and the stars.

17. And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth;

18. And to have dominion over the day and the night, and to make a distinction between the light and the darkness; and God saw that it was good.

19. And there was evening, and there was morning, a fourth day.

20. And God said, Let the waters bring forth creeping things, living creatures; and let birds fly above the earth, upon the face ¹ of the expanse of the heavens.

21. And God created the great sea monsters, and every living creature that creeps, which the waters produced abundantly according to their kinds; and all winged birds according to their kinds; 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 birds be multiplied upon the earth.

23. And there was evening, and there was morning, a fifth day.

24. And God said, Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds, beasts and creeping things and wild animals of the earth according to their kinds; and it was so.

25. And God made wild animals of the earth according to their kinds, and beasts according to their kinds, and everything that creeps along the ground according to its kind; and God saw that it was good.

26. And God said, Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and they will have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, ² and over the beasts, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.

27. And God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

28. And God blessed them, and God said to them, Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, ² and over every living thing that creeps on the earth.

29. And God said, Behold, I give you every plant yielding seed which is upon the face ¹ of the whole earth, and every tree in which there is fruit, the tree producing seed will be for you for food.

30. And to every wild animal of the earth and to every bird of the air, ² and to everything creeping over the earth in which there is a living soul, [I give] every green plant for food; and it was so.

31. And God saw everything that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning, a sixth day.

CONTENTS

The six days or periods of time, which are so many consecutive states in man's regeneration, are in general as follows:

Footnotes: