The Bible

 

Genesis 1:14

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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:

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #1020

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1020. That these things are meant becomes clear from the fact that everything put together as history from Genesis 1 down to Eber in Chapter 11 means something different from what appears in the letter, and from the consideration that the historical narratives there are purely made-up history customary among the most ancient people. When attesting the truth of some matter they would say that 'Jehovah said it'. Here however 'God' is used because the subject is the spiritual Church. And they did the same when anything true was being, or had been, put into effect.

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

Commentary

 

Bless

  
This fresco was created by Franz Xaver Kirchebner in the Parish church of St. Ulrich in Gröden, Italy, which was built in the late 18th century.

The Lord in essence is perfect love expressed as perfect wisdom. He created us so that He could love us, give us love and wisdom of our own, and thus be united with us. This is the ultimate blessing, for us to receive His love and wisdom and to be together with Him, and all other forms and meanings of "blessing" flow from it. This flow, however, takes many different forms in the Bible. When people receive the Lord's blessing, it illustrates how His love and wisdom flow into us in forms that fit the spiritual state people represent in the Word. When people bless the Lord, it indicates an acknowledgment that life and all its gifts come from Him and shows a desire to accept them and be conjoined. When people bless each other, it represents the desire to share good desires and true ideas as much as possible.