The Bible

 

Genesis 1:20

Study

       

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

 

Waters, rivers, and depths

  

'Waters,' 'rivers,' and 'depths,' as in Psalm 78:15-16, signify truths from the Lord.

(References: Arcana Coelestia 2702 [1-17])

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #101

Study this Passage

  
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101. The Lord is 'the east'. This too is clear from several places in the Word, as in Ezekiel,

He brought me to the gate, to the gate facing the way of the east. And behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east, and His voice was like the voice of many waters, and the earth shone with His glory. Ezekiel 43:1-2, 4.

The Lord's being 'the east' was the reason for the sacred practice in the Jewish representative Church, before the Temple was built, of facing eastwards when praying.

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