29. Verses 11-12 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. 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.

Once the earth or the individual has been made ready in such a way that he can receive from the Lord heavenly seeds and produce some measure of good and truth, the Lord first of all causes something tender to spring up, which is: called 'a tender plant', then something more useful which reproduces itself and is called 'a seed-bearing plant', and finally something good which bears fruit and is called 'a tree bearing fruit' in which is its seed, 'each one according to its kind'. The person who is being regenerated is at first such as imagines that any good he does comes from himself, and that any truth he utters comes from himself; but the fact of the matter is that all good and all truth come from the Lord. Consequently anyone who imagines that these originate in himself does not as yet have the life that belongs to true faith, though he is able to receive it later on. Indeed he is not yet able to believe that they come from the Lord because his state is one of preparation for receiving the life inherent in faith. That state is represented in these verses by plant life, the subsequent state, when the life inherent in faith is present, by living creatures.

[2] The Lord Himself saw fit to tell us that He is 'the sower', that 'the seed' is His Word, and that 'the earth' is man, Matthew 13:19-24, 37-39; Mark 4:14-21; Luke 8:11-16. He describes the matter again in a similar way,

The kingdom of God is like a man casting seed into the ground, and sleeping and rising night and day, and the seed sprouts and springs up, he knows not how; for the earth bears fruit of itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full corn in the ear. Mark 4:26-28.

In the universal sense, 'the kingdom of God' is used to mean the whole of heaven, in the less universal sense the Lord's true Church, and in particular every individual who has true faith, that is, who has been regenerated by means of the life that inheres in faith. For that reason the individual is also called 'heaven', for heaven is within him, and 'the kingdom of God', since that too is within him. This the Lord Himself teaches through Luke,

Jesus was asked by the Pharisees, When is the kingdom of God coming? He answered them and said, The kingdom of God is not coming with observation, nor will people say, Behold, here it is! or, Behold, there! for behold, the kingdom of God is within you. Luke 17:20-21.

This is the third stage of a person's regeneration, a state when he is repentant. It is like passing from shadow into the light, or from evening to morning, and this is why it is said in Verse 13, And there was evening, and there was morning, a third day.

7893. 'No work shall be done on them' means abstention during that time from earthly and worldly pursuits. This is clear from the meaning of 'work' as toils and endeavours that have things of a worldly and earthly nature in view, and therefore 'no work shall be done on them' means abstention from such pursuits. The reason why they were forbidden so strictly to do any work during feasts and sabbaths was in order that on those occasions a complete representative state, that is, the kinds of things that represented celestial and spiritual realities, might exist among them. That state would have been thrown into disorder if they had done any kinds of work that had the world or earth in view. For the representative acts of the Church among the descendants of Jacob were established in order that through those acts heaven might be put in communication with mankind, the end for which the Church exists. That communication would not have been achieved unless those people had been forbidden under pain of death to do any work on feast and sabbath days. For their minds were firmly fixed on worldly and earthly pursuits in which they engrossed themselves with all their heart, since they were worldly and earthly themselves. If therefore they had been free at the same time on those days to engage in such pursuits, the communication effected through representative acts would have been completely severed and would have ceased to exist. In later times however the same feasts were kept in being for the sake of heavenly life experienced on those occasions, and for the sake of teaching they received then which enabled them to learn what faith and charity were.