The Bible

 

Genesis 1:17

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17 And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth,

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Apocalypse Explained #528

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528. Verse 13. And I beheld, and I heard one angel flying in the midst of heaven, saying with a great voice, Woe, woe, woe, to them that dwell on the earth, by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels which are about to sound!- "And I beheld, and I heard one angel flying in the midst of heaven," signifies the Lord enlightening all in the heavens concerning the state of the church at its end; "saying with a great voice," signifies in manifestation; "Woe, woe, woe, to them that dwell on the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels which are about to sound," signifies grievous lamentation over the changes of the state of the church, on account of the turning away from good and truth, and thence damnation.

  
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Translation by Isaiah Tansley. Many thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.

Commentary

 

Light

  
by Brita Conroy

In the Word, “light” in the highest sense represents Divine Truth: knowledge, ideas, understanding that come to us from the Lord. In lesser degrees -- the light of a lamp, the light of the moon and so forth -- it represents lower levels of truth, ideas and understanding drawn from more earthly sources. Also, the sun in the Word represents the Lord, with its heat representing the divine love and its light representing the divine wisdom. That wisdom flows into our minds and enters our lives in the form of truth -- things we can know and ponder that lead us and help us to be good people. This connection between light and thought is one of many spiritual/natural relationships that's embedded in our common language. People “see the light” when they understand something; we try to “shed some light” by bringing new thoughts to a difficult question; people are “enlightened” when they get new information or a more complete understanding of something. And a light bulb in a cartoon represents an idea!