The Bible

 

Genesis 1:20

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20 And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.

Commentary

 

Resurrection, the first

  

'The first resurrection,' mentioned in Revelation 20:5, 6, does not mean a first resurrection, but the essence and primary part of resurrection, which is salvation and eternal life. There is only one resurrection to life. A second does not happen, and is not mentioned anywhere in the Bible.

(References: Apocalypse Explained 6; Apocalypse Revealed 851; Revelation 20:5-6)

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #10373

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10373. 'For in six days Jehovah made heaven and earth' means the state of conflict and labour while the Church is being established. This is clear from the meaning of 'six days', when the subject is the establishment of the Church and a person's regeneration, as the state of conflict against evils and falsities, thus the state which comes before and is preparatory to the joining together of goodness and truth, dealt with above in 10366, 10367; and from the meaning of 'heaven and earth' as the Church.

[2] In the Word 'creating heaven and earth' is not used to mean what happened when the sky above and this planet were first created, but the establishment of the Church and the regeneration of a person there, 'heaven' being used to mean his internal and 'earth' his external. The fact that this kind of creation is what should be understood is clear from places in the Word in which the verb 'create' is used, as in David,

A people who will be created will praise Jah. Psalms 102:18.

In the same author,

You send forth [Your] spirit, they are created, and You renew the face of the earth. Psalms 104:30.

In Isaiah,

Thus said Jehovah, I am your Creator, O Jacob; I am He who formed you, O Israel. For I have redeemed you, I have called you by your name, you are Mine. Every one who is called by My name - I have created him for My glory, I have formed him, and also I have made him. Isaiah 43:1, 7.

And in other places. The expressions 'creating', 'forming', and 'making' are used, and elsewhere 'Creator', 'He who forms', and 'Maker'. 'Creating' means bringing something into being that did not exist before, 'forming' means giving it specific quality, and 'making' means carrying into effect. 'Creating and making a new heaven and a new earth' means establishing a new Church, its internal and its external, as in Isaiah 65:17; 66:22; Revelation 21:1 - see 1733, 1850, 2117 (end), 2118 (end), 3355, 4535. 'Earth' in the Word means the Church, 9325. And also 'the creation of heaven and earth' in the first chapter of Genesis means the establishment of the Most Ancient Church, 8891, 9942.

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