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Genesis 1:23

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23 And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.

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Apocalypse Explained #275

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275. (Verse 6) And before the throne there was a glassy sea like unto crystal. That this signifies the appearance of truth in ultimates, in which are the general things thereof, translucent from the influx of Divine truth united to Divine good in primaries, is evident from the signification of before the throne, as being appearance; and from the signification of the sea as being the general things of truth, which will be explained in what follows; also from the signification of a sea of glass, as being translucence. It is said like unto crystal, in order to express translucence from the influx of Divine truth united to Divine good in primaries, which is signified by the seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, as shown just above (n. 274). In the preceding passages, and in this passage, the state of the whole heaven arranged in order for judgment, and its ultimate, is described by a glassy sea like unto crystal. The reason why the truth of the ultimate heaven is signified by a glassy sea is that sea signifies the general things of truth, such as truth is in the ultimates of heaven and pertaining to man in his natural state, which is called scientific truth (verum scientificum.)

[2] The reason why sea has such a signification is that in the sea there is a gathering together of waters; and waters signify truths, as may be seen above (n. 71).

That the sea has such a signification is evident from many passages in the Word, of which some shall be here adduced. In Isaiah:

"I will shut up the Egyptians into the hand of a cruel lord; and a fierce king shall rule over them; then the waters shall fail from the sea, and the river shall be wasted and dried up" (19:4, 5).

By the Egyptians are signified the knowledges (scientiae) belonging to the natural man; by the cruel lord into whose hands they should be shut up is signified the evil of the love of self; by a fierce king is signified the falsity therefrom; by the waters of the sea failing is signified that notwithstanding the abundance of knowledges, there were no truths therefrom; and by the river being wasted and dried up, is signified that there was no doctrine of truth and consequently no intelligence.

[3] Again:

"Jehovah will visit with his sword, hard, great and strong, upon leviathan, the stretched out serpent, and upon leviathan the crooked serpent, and will slay the whales which are in the sea" (27:1).

These things also are said concerning Egypt, by which are signified the knowledges (scientiae) of the natural man; by leviathan the stretched out serpent are signified those who reject every thing which they do not see with their natural eyes; thus the merely sensual, who are without faith, because they do not comprehend. By leviathan the crooked serpent are signified those who, for the same reason, do not believe, and yet say that they do believe. By a sword, hard, great and strong, with which they shall be visited, is signified the extinction of all truth; for sword signifies falsity destroying truth. By the whales in the sea which shall be slain, are signified scientifics (scientifica) in general. (That a whale has such a signification may be seen in Arcana Coelestia 7293.)

[4] In the same:

"The inhabitants of the isles are silent; the merchant of Zidon passing over the sea, they have filled thee. Blush O Zidon, because the sea hath said, The fortification of the sea, saying, I have not travailed, and I have not brought forth; I have not brought up young men, nor made the virgins to grow up; as with the report of Egypt, they shall be seized with pains at the report of Tyre" (23:2-5).

By Zidon and Tyre are signified the knowledges (cognitiones) of good and truth, therefore reference is made to the merchant of Zidon passing over the sea, a merchant denoting one who procures to himself those knowledges, and imparts them. That they procured to themselves nothing of good and truth thereby, is signified by the sea, saying, "I have not travailed and brought forth, I have not brought up young men, nor made the virgins to grow up." To travail, and to bring forth, is to produce something from knowledges; young men signify truths, and virgins goods. That consequently the use of knowledges and of sciences (scientiae) would perish, is signified by, as with the report of Egypt, they shall be seized with pains at the report of Tyre.

[5] In Ezekiel:

"All the princes of the sea shall descend from upon their thrones, and shall cast away their robes, and put off their vestments of embroidery; they shall be clothed with terrors. They shall take up a lamentation over thee, and shall say, How hast thou perished, thou that wast inhabited by seas, the renowned city which was strong in the sea; wherefore the islands in the sea shall be troubled at thy destruction" (Ezekiel 26:16-18).

These things are said of Tyre, by which are signified the knowledges of truth, the neglect and loss of which are thus described. By the princes of the sea who shall come down from their thrones, are meant primary knowledges (cognitiones); that they shall be left together with scientifics is signified by their casting away their robes, and putting off their vestments of embroidery; the embroidery is the Scientific (Scientificum); the renowned city strong in the sea signifies the full power of knowing; the seas signify collections of scientifics (scientifica); the islands in the sea signify the nations more remote from truths which desire knowledges, concerning which it is said, "the isles that are in the sea shall be troubled at thy destruction."

[6] In Isaiah:

"They shall not do evil, nor corrupt themselves, in all the mountain of my holiness; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of Jehovah, as the waters cover the sea" (11:9).

Here the subject treated of is a new heaven and a new church, which are meant by the mountain of holiness in which they shall not do evil nor corrupt themselves; their understanding of truth from the Lord is described by the earth being full of the knowledge (scientia) of Jehovah; and because waters signify truths, and the sea fulness of them, it is therefore said, "as the waters cover the sea."

[7] In the same:

"At my rebuke I dry up the sea, I make the rivers a wilderness; their fish shall be putrid, because there is no water, and shall die of thirst" (50:2).

To dry up the sea signifies an entire lack of the general knowledges (cognitiones) of truth; to make the rivers a wilderness signifies the deprivation of all truth, and consequently of intelligence; the fish becoming putrid signifies that the scientifics of the natural man shall be without any spiritual life, which takes place when they are applied to confirm falsities against the truths of the church; because there is no water signifies because there is not any truth; to die of thirst signifies the extinction of truth. (That rivers signify those things that pertain to intelligence may be seen in Arcana Coelestia 108, 2702, 3051: that desert signifies where there is no good because no truth, n. 2708, 4736, 7055; that fish signifies the Scientific of the natural man, n. 40, 991; that water signifies truth, n. 2702, 3424, 5668, 8568, and that to die of thirst signifies the deprivation of spiritual life from defect of truth, n. 8568, end.)

[8] In David:

"Jehovah, thou rulest the raging of the sea, when the waves thereof arise" (Psalms 89:9).

By sea is here signified the natural man, because in the natural man are the general things of truth; by the rising of its waves is signified its exalting itself against the Divine, denying the things of the church.

[9] Again:

"Jehovah hath founded" the world upon the seas, "and established it upon the rivers" (Psalms 24:2).

By the world is signified the church; by the seas the knowledges (cognitiones) in general which are in the natural man; and by rivers the truths of faith: upon both these the church is founded.

[10] In Amos:

Jehovah "who buildeth his steps in the heavens, and calleth the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the faces of the earth" (9:6).

By the steps which Jehovah buildeth in the heavens are signified interior truths, which are called spiritual; by the waters of the sea are signified exterior truths, which are natural because they are in the natural man; by pouring them out upon the faces of the earth, is signified upon the men of the church, for earth denotes the church.

[11] In David:

"By the Word of Jehovah were the heavens made, and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth. He gathereth the waters of the sea together as an heap; he giveth the depths for treasures" (Psalms 33:6, 7).

The Word of Jehovah by which the heavens were made, and the breath of His mouth by which all the host of them is made, signifies the Divine truth proceeding from the Lord; the host of the heavens denoting all things of love and faith. The waters of the sea which He gathered together as an heap signify the knowledges of truth, and truths in general, which are together in the natural man; the depths which He gives for treasures signify sensual scientifics (scientifica sensualia), which are the most general, and the ultimate of the natural man, and in which at the same time are interior or higher truths, whence they are called treasures.

[12] Again:

Jehovah "hath founded the earth upon its foundations that it be not removed to eternity and for ever. Thou hast covered it with the deep as with a garment" (Psalms 104:5, 6).

By earth is here signified the church; the foundations on which Jehovah founded it for ever, are the knowledges (cognitiones) of truth and good. The deep which covered it as with a garment signifies the sensual Scientific, which is the ultimate of the natural man, and because it is such, Jehovah is said to have covered it as with a garment.

[13] Again:

Jehovah "thy way is in the sea, and thy path in many waters, yet thy footsteps are not known" (Psalms 77:19).

In Isaiah:

"Thus saith Jehovah, I have made a way in the sea, and a path in the mighty waters" (43:16).

That by sea in this passage is not meant the sea, nor by waters are meant waters is evident, because it is said that therein are the way and the path of Jehovah. Therefore, by the sea and by waters are meant those things in which Jehovah or the Lord is, these being the knowledges of truth in general from the Word, and truths therein. The sea denotes those knowledges, and the waters truths. Knowledges (cognitiones) and truths differ in this, that the former are of the natural man, and the latter of the spiritual man.

[14] In Jeremiah:

"I will plead thy cause, and will avenge thy avenging: and I will dry up the sea" of Babel, "and will make dry the springs thereof; the sea shall come up upon Babel, she shall be covered with the multitude of its waves" (51:36, 42).

By Babel are meant those who profane goods; the sea of Babel signifies their traditions, which are adulterations of good from the Word; the waves are the falsities thereof; their destruction at the Last Judgment is described by these things.

[15] In the same:

"A people coming from the north, and a great nation, and many kings shall be stirred up from the sides of the earth. Their voice maketh a tumult like the sea, and they ride upon horses" (50:41, 42).

The people coming from the north denote those who are falsities from evil; the great nation denotes evils, and many kings denote falsities; the sides of the earth denote the things of the church, and also those not of the church, for the earth denotes the church; their voice making a tumult like the sea, denotes falsity from the natural man exalting itself against the truth of the church; the horses upon which they ride, are reasonings from the fallacies of the senses.

[16] Again:

"Jehovah, who giveth the sun for a light of the day, the statutes of the moon and of the stars for a light of the night, stirring up the sea so that the waves thereof are tumultuous" (31:35).

By the sun from which is the light of the day, is signified the good of celestial love, from which comes the perception of truth; by the ordinances of the moon and the stars, from which comes the light of the night, are signified truths from spiritual good and from knowledges, from which comes intelligence; by the sea which is stirred up, and by the waves which are tumultuous, are signified the generals of truth in the natural man, and scientifics.

[17] In Isaiah.

"The wicked are like the troubled sea when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt" (57:20).

By the troubled sea, which is said of the wicked, are signified reasonings from falsities; by the waters which cast up mire and dirt are signified the falsities themselves, from which come evils of life and falsities of doctrine.

[18] In Ezekiel:

"I will stretch out mine hand upon the Philistines, and I will cut off the Cherethites, and destroy the remnant of the sea coasts" (25:16).

By the Philistines are signified those who are in the doctrine of faith alone; and by the remnant of the sea coasts, which shall be destroyed, are signified all things pertaining to truth.

[19] In Hosea:

"I will not return to destroy Ephraim. They shall go after Jehovah; and with honour the sons shall draw near from the sea, with honour shall they come as a bird out of Egypt, and as a dove out of the land of Assyria" (Hosea 11:9-11).

By Ephraim is here signified the church as to the understanding of truth; by the sons from the sea who shall draw near are signified truths from their common fount, which is the Word; by a bird out of Egypt is signified the Scientific in agreement therewith; and by a dove out of the land of Assyria is signified the Rational.

[20] In Zechariah:

"In that day living waters shall go out from Jerusalem, part of them to the eastern sea, and part of them to the hinder sea" (14:8).

By living waters going out from Jerusalem are signified truths from a spiritual origin in the church, which are the truths received by man when he is enlightened from the Lord while reading the Word; Jerusalem signifies the church as to doctrine. By the sea is signified the natural man into which those things descend that are in the spiritual man; by the eastern sea is signified the natural man as to good, and by the hinder sea the same as to truth; and because the natural man is in the general things of truth, therefore by sea are also signified things of truth.

[21] Those who are ignorant of what is meant by the spiritual man, and by the truths and goods therein, may suppose that the truths that are in the natural man, and are called knowledges and scientifics, are not merely the generals of truth, but that they are all things of truth pertaining to man. But be it known that the truths that are in the spiritual man, and from which those that are in the natural are derived, exceed them enormously. Those, however, that are in the spiritual man do not come within the perception of the natural man until he enters the spiritual world, which is after death; for then man puts off the natural, and puts on the spiritual. That this is the case is evident from this fact only, that the angels are in intelligence and wisdom ineffable in comparison with man, and yet the angels are all from the human race. (That the angels are from the human race may be seen in the small work, The Last Judgment 14-22, and 23-27.) Because the sea signifies the generals of truth, therefore the great vessel, which was for washing in common, was called the brazen sea (1 Kings 7:23-26). For washing represented purifications from falsities and evils, and waters signify truths, by which purifications are effected. And because all truths are from good, therefore the whole vessel was made of brass; therefore it was called the brazen sea, for brass signifies good. Spiritual purification, which is purification from falsities and evils, is there fully described by the measurements of that vessel, and by the bases thereof, understood in the spiritual sense. From the considerations now adduced, it is evident that by sea are signified the generals of truth, or the knowledges of truth together and collectively. But what is further signified by the sea will be shown in the explanation of the following part of this book. For the sea is mentioned in various senses; as in chap. 5:13; 7:1-3; 8:8, 9; 10:2, 8; 12:12; 13:1; 14:7; 15:2; 16:3; 18:17, 19, 21; 20:13; 21:1.

  
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Translation by Isaiah Tansley. Many thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #6377

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6377. 'He washes his clothing in wine' means that His Natural consists in Divine Truth from His Divine Good. This is clear from the meaning of 'washing' as purifying, dealt with in 3147; from the meaning of 'wine' as the good of love towards the neighbour and the good of faith, and in the highest sense as Divine Truth from the Lord's Divine Good, dealt with below; and from the meaning of 'clothing' as the exterior which covers the interior, dealt with in 5248, thus the natural since this is exterior and covers the rational, which is interior. Therefore 'clothing' also means truth since this is exterior and covers good, which is interior, 2576, 4545, 4763, 5319, 5954.

[2] The fact that 'wine' means love towards the neighbour and the good of faith may be recognized from what has been shown regarding the bread and wine in the Holy Supper, in 2165, 2177, 3464, 4581, 5915. These paragraphs show that 'bread' is the good of celestial love, and that 'wine' is the good of spiritual love. The same may also be recognized from the minchah and the drink-offering in sacrifices. The minchah in them meant the good of love, and the drink-offering the good of faith. The minchah consisted of the kinds of things that meant the good of love, while the drink-offering consisted of wine that meant the good of faith. The sacrifices themselves were also called 'bread', 2165. For the use in sacrifices of a drink-offering consisting of wine, see Exodus 29:40; Leviticus 23:12-13, 18-19; Numbers 15:2-15; 28:6-7, 18-end; 29:1-7 and following verses.

[3] The meaning that 'wine' has of love towards the neighbour and the good of faith is also evident in Isaiah,

Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! And come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Isaiah 55:1.

No one can fail to see that they did not have to buy wine and milk, but that they were to acquire what is meant by 'wine and milk', which is love towards the neighbour and faith. These gifts come from the Lord 'without money and without price'.

[4] In Hosea,

Threshing-floor and winepress will not feed them, and new wine will be deceptive to her. 1 Ephraim will return to Egypt, and in Assyria they will eat what is unclean. They will not pour libations of wine to Jehovah, their sacrifices will not be pleasing to Him. Hosea 9:1-4.

Here also in the internal sense reference is made to the good of love and the good of faith, to the demise of them. The good of love is meant by 'threshing-floor' by virtue of the grain there and the bread made from it, while the good of faith is meant by 'winepress', 'new wine', and 'libation of wine'. 'Ephraim will return to Egypt' stands for the fact that the understanding would resort to factual knowledge for advice concerning the arcana of faith; 'in Assyria they will eat what is unclean' stands for that which is the outcome of consequent false reasoning - 'Ephraim' being the area of understanding in the Church, see 5754, 6112, 6238, 6267; 'Egypt' the area of factual knowledge, 1164, 1165, 1186, 1462, 5702; and 'Assyria' that of reasoning, 1186. The line of thought in this passage also shows that the words used here contain something more than what one sees in the letter. For everything hangs together in the internal sense, but not so in the external sense, for example when it says that 'threshing-floor and winepress will not feed them, and new wine will be deceptive to her', immediately followed by 'Ephraim will return to Egypt, and in Assyria they will eat what is unclean'. Moreover, without the internal sense what meaning would Ephraim's return to Egypt and their eating in Assyria what is unclean have?

[5] 'Winepress' and 'wine' are also used in Jeremiah to describe the demise of mutual love and the good of faith,

He who lays waste has fallen on your vintage, therefore joy and gladness have been plucked from Carmel, and from the land of Moab, for I have made the wine cease from the winepresses; none will tread the headed. 2 Jeremiah 48:32-33.

[6] The fact that 'wine' means the good of mutual love and of faith is also evident in John,

I heard a voice from the midst of the four living creatures, saying, Do no harm to oil and wine. Revelation 6:6.

[7] 'Oil' stands for the good of celestial love, and 'wine' for the good of spiritual love.

'Oil' and 'wine' have a similar meaning in the Lord's parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke,

A certain Samaritan was journeying, and seeing him who had been wounded by the robbers was moved with compassion for him; going therefore to him, he bandaged his wounds, and poured on oil and wine. Luke 10:33-34.

'He poured on oil and wine' means that he performed the works of love and charity, 'oil' being the good of love, see 886, 3728. A like meaning was involved in the practice of the ancients, who poured oil and wine onto a pillar when they consecrated it, Genesis 35:14, 4581, 4582.

[8] The fact that 'wine' means the good of love and faith is evident from the words the Lord used when He instituted the Holy Supper. He said then regarding the wine,

I tell you that I shall not drink from now on of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father's kingdom. Matthew 26:29; Luke 22:17-18.

Anyone can see that He was not about to drink wine in that kingdom, but that the good of love and faith is meant, which He was about to impart to those who belonged to His kingdom. Much the same is meant by 'wine' in Isaiah 24:9, 11; Lamentations 2:11-12; Hosea 14:7; Amos 9:13-14; Zechariah 9:15-16; Luke 5:37-39.

[9] Since 'wine' means the good of love and faith, Divine Truth from the Lord's Divine Good is therefore meant in the highest sense, for that Truth, when it flows into a person and is accepted by him, brings him the good of love and faith.

[10] Since most things in the Word also have a contrary meaning, so too does 'wine', the contrary meaning of which is falsity from evil, as in Isaiah,

Woe to those who rise in the morning around dawn, and then follow strong drink, who continue into dusk, so that wine may inflame them! Woe to heroes at drinking wine, and to valiant men in mixing strong drink! Isaiah 5:11, 22

In the same prophet,

Also these err through wine, and go astray through strong drink. The priest and the prophet err through strong drink. They are swallowed up by wine, they go astray through strong drink. They err among the seers, they are tottery in judgement. Isaiah 28:7.

In the same prophet,

The shepherds know no understanding, they all look to their own way. Come, I will get wine, and we will be drunken from strong drink; and let there be tomorrow, as there is this day, great abundance. Isaiah 56:11-12.

In addition to these places 'wine' is used with the contrary meaning in Jeremiah 13:12; Hosea 4:11; 7:5; Amos 2:8; Micah 2:11; Psalms 75:8; Deuteronomy 32:33.

Falsity from evil is also meant by the cup of the wine of wrath in Jeremiah 25:15-16; Revelation 14:8, 10; 16:19; the winepress of the wrath of God's anger, Revelation 19:15; and the wine of whoredom, Revelation 17:2; 18:3.

Footnotes:

1. The Latin means them but the Hebrew means her, which Swedenborg has in other places where he quotes this verse, as well as possibly here in his rough draft.

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