The Bible

 

Genesis 1:19

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19 And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #22

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22. Verse 5 And there was evening, and there was morning, the first day.

What 'evening' means, and what 'morning', is recognized from what is said above. 'Evening' means every prior state, because it is a state of shade, that is, of falsity and of absence of faith, while 'morning' is every subsequent state, because it is one of light, that is, of truth and of cognitions of faith. 'Evening' in general means all the things that are man's own, whereas 'morning' means all those that are the Lord's, as is said through David,

The Spirit of Jehovah has spoken within me, and His word is upon my tongue. The God of Israel has said, the Rock of Israel has spoken to me. He is like the morning light, when the sun is rising on a cloudless morning, shining bright, as when after rain tender grass [springs up] from the earth. 2 Samuel 23:4.

Because 'evening' is a time when there is no faith, and 'morning' when there is, the Lord's Coming into the world is called 'the morning', and the time at which He comes, since faith does not exist at that point, is called 'the evening', as in Daniel,

The Holy One said to me, Up to the evening when it is becoming morning, two thousand three hundred times. Daniel 8:13-14.

In the Word, 'morning' stands in a similar way for every coming of the Lord, and so is a term describing the new creation.

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

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #6065

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6065. 'Their flocks and their herds' means forms of the good of truth, interior and exterior ones. This is clear from the meaning of 'flocks' as interior forms of good, and of 'herds' as exterior forms of good, both dealt with in 5913, 6048. The reason forms of the good of truth are what is meant is that spiritual good, which is represented by 'Israel', is the good of truth, 4598. Forms of good as they exist in heaven or with man have two different origins; that is to say, they originate in the will or in the understanding. Good that originated in the will existed among the most ancient people who belonged to the celestial Church, whereas good that originated in the understanding existed among the ancients who belonged to the spiritual Church. The first kind of good exists with those in the inmost or third heaven, the second kind with those in the middle or second heaven. What the difference is between them, and the nature of that difference, has been stated many times in explanations. Good that has its origin in the will is good from which truth is derived, whereas good that has its origin in the understanding is good which is a product of truth, that is, it is the good of truth. Essentially this good is nothing else than truth put into practice.

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