The Bible

 

Genesis 1:16

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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.

Commentary

 

Land

  

'Land' in the Word, denotes the church, for the things which signify the church also signify the things relating to the church, for these constitute the church. The reason why 'land' denotes the church in the Word is because the land of Canaan was the land in which the church had been since the most ancient times. Hence, when 'land' is named in the Word, it means the land of Canaan, which then means the church. For when the expression 'the land' appears there, people in the spiritual world do not concern themselves with the idea of a land, only with the idea of the nation inhabiting it. And yet not with an idea of that nation but with an idea of the essential nature of it.

'Land' or 'earth,' as in Genesis 20:15, signifies the doctrine of love and charity.

'Land' signifies the celestial principle of love in Genesis 24:4.

In Genesis 26:12, 'land' signifies rational things.

In Genesis 28:13, this signifies the good of the natural.

The 'land' represents the divine of the rational principle in Genesis 30:25.

(References: Arcana Coelestia 5577)


From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #1529

Study this Passage

  
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1529. It is very well known in heaven, but not so well known in the world of spirits, where so great a light comes from, namely from the Lord. And what is astonishing, the Lord appears to celestial angels in the third heaven as the Sun, but to spiritual angels as the Moon. There is no other source of light. But the intensity of the light angels experience depends on how celestial and spiritual they are, and the nature of the light depends on the nature of these qualities. Thus the Lord's celestial and spiritual itself shows itself before angels' external vision by means of the light.

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