7. The first state is the state which precedes, both the state existing from earliest childhood onwards and that existing immediately before regeneration; and it is called a void, emptiness, and thick darkness. And the first movement, which is the Lord's mercy, is 'the Spirit of God hovering over the face ¹ of the waters'.

Footnotes:

3168. 'And they ate and drank' means making one's own the good and truth introduced in this way. This is clear from the meaning of 'eating' as being communicated and joined together, thus being made one's own, dealt with in 2187, 2343, and more specifically (since 'eating' has reference to bread and 'bread' means good, 276, 680, 2165, 2177, 2187) making good one's own; and from the meaning of 'drinking' as being communicated and joined together, thus being made one's own, dealt with in 3089, and more specifically (since 'drinking' has reference to wine and 'wine' means truth, 1071, 1798) making truth one's own. The situation is as stated above in 3167, namely that when truth is introduced into good in the rational, more so when it is joined to it, the good and truth of the spiritual man, that is, spiritual things, become made over to the natural as its own.