8891. 'For in six days Jehovah made heaven and earth, and the sea' means regenerating and vivifying the things in the internal man and in the external. This is clear from the meaning of 'six days' as states of conflict, dealt with just above in 8888, and - when used in reference to Jehovah, that is, the Lord - as His labour with a person before he is regenerated, 8510; from the meaning of 'heaven and earth' as the Church or Lord's kingdom in a person, 'heaven' being in his internal man and 'earth' in his external, dealt with in 82, 1411, 1733, 1850, 2117, 2118 (end), 3355 (end), 4535, so that a person who has been regenerated is meant, that is, one who has acquired new life and accordingly been vivified; and from the meaning of 'the sea' as the sensory awareness adhering to the bodily level of a person's mind, dealt with in 8872.

[2] The present verse deals with the sanctifying of the seventh day or institution of the sabbath, describing it as follows,

In six days Jehovah made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore Jehovah blessed the sabbath day, and sanctified it.

When people's thinking does not extend beyond the sense of the letter they cannot do other than suppose that the creation described in the first and second chapters of Genesis is the creation of the universe, and that there were six days within which heaven, earth, the sea, and all that is in them were created, and at length the human being in God's likeness. Yet is there anyone pondering on the details who fails to see that the creation of the universe is not what is meant there? For there are things in those chapters which common sense tells anyone are not literally true, for example, that days existed before the sun and moon, that light and darkness did so, and that plants and trees sprang up, when in fact it is through those [great] lights that light is given, light and darkness are divided, and so days come into being.

[3] Further on after these details, others of a similar nature follow which scarcely anyone who thinks more deeply will consider to have been literally possible, such as these: The woman was built out of the man's rib; two trees were placed in paradise, the fruit of one of which they were forbidden to eat; a serpent spoke from one of them to the wife of man (homo), who had been the wisest of mortal beings; what it said - what came out of the serpent's mouth - deceived them both; and the whole human race, numbering so very many thousands of thousands, was therefore condemned to hell. As soon as they are contemplated these and similar details there inevitably seem nonsensical to those who entertain any doubt about the holiness of the Word; and they lead to a denial of the Divine there. However it should be realized that every detail there down to the smallest is Divine; they all contain arcana which are clearly visible to angels in heaven, as in broad daylight. The reason why this should be so is that angels do not see the literal meaning of the Word but what lies within it, that is, spiritual and celestial realities, and Divine ones within these. When the first chapter of Genesis is read they perceive no other creation than the new creation of a human being, which is called regeneration. This is what is described there, 'paradise' being the wisdom of a person created anew. 'The two trees in the middle of it' are the two mental powers of that person, which are a will desiring good, meant by 'the tree of life', and an understanding seeing truth, meant by 'the tree of knowledge'. And the reason why they were forbidden to eat from this tree was that a person who has been regenerated or created anew ought no longer to be led by an understanding that sees truth but by a will desiring good, or else his newness of life is destroyed. Regarding these matters, see 202, 337, 2454, 2715, 3246, 3652, 4448, 5895 (end), 5897 (end), 7877, 7923, 7992, 8505, 8506, 8510, 8512, 8516, 8539, 8643, 8648, 8658, 8690, 8701, 8722. Consequently Adam or Man and Eve his wife there are used to mean a new Church, and 'eating from the tree of knowledge' to mean the decline of that Church from good into truth, consequently from love to the Lord and towards the neighbour into faith without such love. And this came about through reasoning arising from self-intelligence, that reasoning being meant by 'the serpent', see 195-197, 6398, 6399, 6949, 7293.

[4] From all this it is evident that the historical narratives regarding creation, and regarding the first human being and paradise, are the descriptions of fictitious historical events, containing heavenly and Divine realities within them. Making up such stories was in keeping with the accepted custom in the ancient Churches; and the custom also spread from them to many outside the Church, who in a similar way produced descriptions of fictitious historical events, wrapping up arcana within them, as is evident from writers belonging to most ancient times. For the ancient Churches were well acquainted with what such things as exist in the world meant in heaven. Nor were great exploits of sufficient importance for them to write about, only the things of heaven. Things of heaven occupied their minds because they thought on a more internal level than people do at the present day and so were in contact with angels; and for this reason they gained a delight out of putting together such stories. But they were led by the Lord to images which would be held sacred in Churches. Out of these they composed stories in which everything had a correspondence

[5] All this shows what 'heaven and earth' is used to mean in the first verse of the first chapter of Genesis - the internal Church and the external Church. The fact that they are meant by 'heaven and earth' is also clear from places in the Prophets which speak of a new heaven and a new earth, by which a new Church is to be understood, see 82, 1411, 1733, 1850, 2117, 2118 (end), 3355 (end), 4535.

From all this it is now evident that 'in six days Jehovah made heaven and earth, and the sea' means regenerating and vivifying the things in the internal man and in the external man.

9303. 'Behold, I send an angel before you' means the Lord's Divine Human. This is clear from the meaning of 'sending', when it refers to the Lord, as going forth, dealt with in 6831, at this point causing to go forth; and from the meaning of 'an angel' as one who goes forth, for the word for 'angel' in the original language means one who has been sent. This is the derivation of the word, and 'one sent' means one going forth, as becomes clear from the places in the Word referred to in 6831. From this it is evident that 'the angel of Jehovah' is used to mean the Lord's Divine Human, for this comes forth from Jehovah as the Father. Jehovah as the Father is the Divine Good of Divine Love, which is Essential Being (Esse), 3704; and He who comes forth from the Father is the Divine Truth emanating from that Divine Good. He is accordingly the Divine Coming-into-Being (Existere) that arises from the Divine Being; and this Coming-into-Being is meant here by 'an angel'. The like occurs in Isaiah,

The angel of His face delivered them; because of His love and His compassion He redeemed them, and took them and carried them all the days of eternity. Isaiah 63:9.

And in Malachi,

Behold, suddenly there will come to His temple the Lord whom you are seeking, and the angel of the covenant in whom you delight. Malachi 3:1-2.

'To the Lord's temple' means to His Human. The Lord Himself teaches that this is His temple, in Matthew 26:61, and in John 2:19, 21-22.

[2] The Church declares that from the three who are named Father, Son, and Holy Spirit exists a Divine Unity, also called One God, and that the Son proceeds from the Father, and the Holy Spirit from the Father through the Son. But what proceeding or going forth means remains unknown. Angels' ideas about this are altogether different from those of people in the Church who have given thought to the matter. The reason for this is that the ideas of people in the Church are based on three, but those of angels on one. And the reason why the ideas of people in the Church are based on three is that they distinguish the Divine [Being] into three separate persons, to each of whom they attribute particular and specific functions. Consequently although they are indeed able to say that God is one, they can conceive only of three made one through mystical union, as they call it. This indeed allows them to conceive of Divine Unity but not of One God, since they have God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit in mind. Divine Unity is unity arrived at through agreement and so unanimity; but One God is wholly and completely one.

[3] What kind of idea or way of thinking members of the Church have about one God is perfectly clear in the next life, for each individual person takes his ideas and thoughts with him. In their thinking they envisage three gods, but they dare not to use the word 'gods', only 'God'. Few moreover make one out of three through union; for they think of the Father in one way, of the Son in another, and of the Holy Spirit in yet another. This has shown what kind of belief the Church has regarding the most essential thing of all, namely the Deity Himself. And since the belief and thoughts and the love and affections of all in the next life bring them together or set them apart, those who have been born outside the Church and have believed in one God shy away from those within the Church. They say that those within the Church do not believe in one God but in three gods, and that those who do not believe in one God in human form believe in no God at all, since they think of the whole universe, endless in extent, and so think of the natural order, which they acknowledge in place of God. When members of the Church are asked what they understand by 'proceeding' when they say that the Son proceeds from the Father, and the Holy Spirit from the Father through the Son, they reply that 'proceeding' is a term which has to do with union and is all part of that mystery.

[4] But when their ideas and thoughts about it have been examined, they have proved to be no more than those of a term and nothing of real substance. But angels' ideas about the Godhead, about the Trinity, and about proceeding are altogether different from those of members of the Church, because angels' ideas and thoughts, as stated above, are based on one, whereas those of members of the Church are based on three. Angels think - and what they think they believe - that there is one God and He is the Lord, that His Human is the Deity Himself in outward form, and that the holiness proceeding from Him is the Holy Spirit, thus that though there is a Trinity the Deity is intrinsically One.

[5] An idea concerning the angels in heaven may serve to make this intelligible. An angel there is seen in human form; nevertheless there are three things with him which make one. There is the inward part of him which does not appear before people's eyes, there is the outward part which does appear, and there is the sphere of the life belonging to his affections and thoughts, which flows out far and wide from him, regarding which see 1048, 1053, 1316, 1504-1519, 1695, 2489, 4464, 5179, 6206 (end), 7454, 8063, 8630. These three make one angel. But angels are finite, created beings, whereas the Lord is Infinite and Uncreated; and since no one, not even an angel, can have an idea of the Infinite except from things that are finite, it is permissible to use such an example to shed light on what the Three in One is, on the truth that there is One God, and on the truth that He is the Lord, and no other. See in addition what has been shown already on these matters in the places referred to in 9194, 9199.