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.

9726. 'And you shall make for it a grating, a network' means the level of sensory perception, which is the last and lowest. This is clear from the meaning of 'a grating, a network' as external sensory perception, thus that which forms for a person the last and lowest level of life; and since this lowest level is meant by the grating it was placed all the way round the altar. Such sensory perception was represented by the grating because it first sifts so to speak and sorts out those things which enter the human mind and present themselves to the understanding and will, namely truths and forms of good. If the sensory perception is composed of good it does not let anything through other than forms of good, and truths derived from good, and rejects evils and the falsities arising from evil. For sensory perception is the actual ability to perceive things which belong to the understanding and to sense those which belong to the will as they exist on outermost levels, an ability that is perfectly fashioned for the affections for those things. The nature of all this may be illustrated by very many things in the body. Everywhere in the outermost parts within the body there are forms that resemble nets and there are so to speak gratings which sort out the things that flow towards them from the world. Those that are suitable are let through because they are desirable, and those that are unsuitable are rejected because they are loathsome. Extremely sensitive systems such as these exist in the stomach. These let through into the blood the suitable juices of the chyle, because these juices are useful and therefore desirable, and reject the unsuitable because they are harmful and therefore loathsome. The situation is similar with sensory perception, which is the last and lowest level of a person's life. But this level with a person has become totally wrecked, the reason why being that it stands right next to and is exposed to the world and is therefore the last to be regenerated, indeed scarcely anyone at the present day is able to be regenerated down to that level. As regards what the level of sensory perception is like with these people, see what has been shown already concerning it in 4009, 5077, 5081, 5084, 5094, 5125, 5128, 5580, 5767, 5774, 6183, 6201, 6310-6318, 6564, 6598, 6612, 6614, 6622, 6624, 6844, 6845, 6948, 6949, 7442, 7645, 7693, 9212, 9216.

Therefore if a person is to see and have an understanding of the truths of faith and the forms of the good of love he must be raised by the Lord above that level to more internal levels. But the sensory perception meant by 'the grating, the network' around the altar is the sensory perception belonging to the Lord's Divine Human, since the altar is representative of the Lord and of the worship of Him that springs from the good of love, 9714.