8891. 'For in six days Jehovah made heaven and earth, and the sea' means regenerating and vivifying the things in the internal man and in the external. This is clear from the meaning of 'six days' as states of conflict, dealt with just above in 8888, and - when used in reference to Jehovah, that is, the Lord - as His labour with a person before he is regenerated, 8510; from the meaning of 'heaven and earth' as the Church or Lord's kingdom in a person, 'heaven' being in his internal man and 'earth' in his external, dealt with in 82, 1411, 1733, 1850, 2117, 2118 (end), 3355 (end), 4535, so that a person who has been regenerated is meant, that is, one who has acquired new life and accordingly been vivified; and from the meaning of 'the sea' as the sensory awareness adhering to the bodily level of a person's mind, dealt with in 8872.

[2] The present verse deals with the sanctifying of the seventh day or institution of the sabbath, describing it as follows,

In six days Jehovah made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore Jehovah blessed the sabbath day, and sanctified it.

When people's thinking does not extend beyond the sense of the letter they cannot do other than suppose that the creation described in the first and second chapters of Genesis is the creation of the universe, and that there were six days within which heaven, earth, the sea, and all that is in them were created, and at length the human being in God's likeness. Yet is there anyone pondering on the details who fails to see that the creation of the universe is not what is meant there? For there are things in those chapters which common sense tells anyone are not literally true, for example, that days existed before the sun and moon, that light and darkness did so, and that plants and trees sprang up, when in fact it is through those [great] lights that light is given, light and darkness are divided, and so days come into being.

[3] Further on after these details, others of a similar nature follow which scarcely anyone who thinks more deeply will consider to have been literally possible, such as these: The woman was built out of the man's rib; two trees were placed in paradise, the fruit of one of which they were forbidden to eat; a serpent spoke from one of them to the wife of man (homo), who had been the wisest of mortal beings; what it said - what came out of the serpent's mouth - deceived them both; and the whole human race, numbering so very many thousands of thousands, was therefore condemned to hell. As soon as they are contemplated these and similar details there inevitably seem nonsensical to those who entertain any doubt about the holiness of the Word; and they lead to a denial of the Divine there. However it should be realized that every detail there down to the smallest is Divine; they all contain arcana which are clearly visible to angels in heaven, as in broad daylight. The reason why this should be so is that angels do not see the literal meaning of the Word but what lies within it, that is, spiritual and celestial realities, and Divine ones within these. When the first chapter of Genesis is read they perceive no other creation than the new creation of a human being, which is called regeneration. This is what is described there, 'paradise' being the wisdom of a person created anew. 'The two trees in the middle of it' are the two mental powers of that person, which are a will desiring good, meant by 'the tree of life', and an understanding seeing truth, meant by 'the tree of knowledge'. And the reason why they were forbidden to eat from this tree was that a person who has been regenerated or created anew ought no longer to be led by an understanding that sees truth but by a will desiring good, or else his newness of life is destroyed. Regarding these matters, see 202, 337, 2454, 2715, 3246, 3652, 4448, 5895 (end), 5897 (end), 7877, 7923, 7992, 8505, 8506, 8510, 8512, 8516, 8539, 8643, 8648, 8658, 8690, 8701, 8722. Consequently Adam or Man and Eve his wife there are used to mean a new Church, and 'eating from the tree of knowledge' to mean the decline of that Church from good into truth, consequently from love to the Lord and towards the neighbour into faith without such love. And this came about through reasoning arising from self-intelligence, that reasoning being meant by 'the serpent', see 195-197, 6398, 6399, 6949, 7293.

[4] From all this it is evident that the historical narratives regarding creation, and regarding the first human being and paradise, are the descriptions of fictitious historical events, containing heavenly and Divine realities within them. Making up such stories was in keeping with the accepted custom in the ancient Churches; and the custom also spread from them to many outside the Church, who in a similar way produced descriptions of fictitious historical events, wrapping up arcana within them, as is evident from writers belonging to most ancient times. For the ancient Churches were well acquainted with what such things as exist in the world meant in heaven. Nor were great exploits of sufficient importance for them to write about, only the things of heaven. Things of heaven occupied their minds because they thought on a more internal level than people do at the present day and so were in contact with angels; and for this reason they gained a delight out of putting together such stories. But they were led by the Lord to images which would be held sacred in Churches. Out of these they composed stories in which everything had a correspondence

[5] All this shows what 'heaven and earth' is used to mean in the first verse of the first chapter of Genesis - the internal Church and the external Church. The fact that they are meant by 'heaven and earth' is also clear from places in the Prophets which speak of a new heaven and a new earth, by which a new Church is to be understood, see 82, 1411, 1733, 1850, 2117, 2118 (end), 3355 (end), 4535.

From all this it is now evident that 'in six days Jehovah made heaven and earth, and the sea' means regenerating and vivifying the things in the internal man and in the external man.

384. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth to kill. That this signifies deprivation of all good and thence of all truth from the Word, and thence also in the doctrine of their church from the Word, is plain from the signification of power as denoting effect, because to be able denotes to effect; from the signification of killing or slaying, as denoting to deprive of good and truth (concerning which see above, n. 366); from the signification of the fourth part, as denoting all the good and truth thence, of which we shall speak presently; and from the signification of the earth, as denoting the church, and everything thereof (concerning which see above, n. 29, 304). And because a church is a church from the doctrine there, and from a life according to it; and because every doctrine of the church should be from the Word, hence the doctrine of the church from the Word is also at the same time signified. From these considerations it is evident, that by power being given unto them over the fourth part of the earth to kill, is signified, the deprivation of all good and the truth thence from the Word, and, consequently, in the doctrine of the church from the Word. By its being said that "power was given unto them," is meant, that [it is] in the evils and the falsities thence, which also are signified by death and hell. That those who are in evils and falsities deprive themselves of all perception of good and understanding of truth from the Word, and thence in the doctrine of their church from the Word, is quite clear from those who are in falsities of doctrine from evils of life. Such, although they read the Word, either do not see the truths therein, or falsify them by applying them to the falsities of their own principle, and to the evils of their own love. For the sense of the letter of the Word is of such a nature, that those who are in good see truths therein, and those who are in evil see falsities; for the sense of the letter is adapted to the apprehension of children, boys, and simple people, and therefore is written according to the appearance; but still in that sense truths lie hidden which none see but those who are in good, while those who are in evil do not desire to see them, but by perverse interpretations apply all things to the evils of their own loves and to the falsities of their own principles. This is quite evident from so many heresies within the church, especially from the wicked Babylonian heresy, and also from the Jewish heresy.

[2] The reason why the fourth part signifies all good and the truth thence, is, because the number four signifies the conjunction of good and truth, and hence the fourth part or a fourth signifies the all of conjunction. Mention is frequently made in the Word of a third part, and also of a fourth part, and those who do not know that all numbers signify things, may suppose that a third part signifies a third part, and a fourth part a fourth part, or that they signify something; whereas by a third part is signified all truth, and by a fourth part all good; and because all truth is from good, hence by a fourth part are signified all good and the truth thence, here the deprivation of these, because it is said that power was given to them over the fourth part of the earth to kill. That three, and hence a third part, is said of truths, will be seen in the following pages where that number is mentioned. But that four, and hence a fourth part, are said of goods and the truths thence, is, because they signify their conjunction. That this is the case has been made evident to me by much experience from the spiritual world. For when the discourse with the angels there has been concerning the conjunction of good and truth, or of love and faith, and that discourse has been directed to numbers, the number four has been shown, and sometimes also the number two, or the number eight, or the number sixteen, because these numbers signify similar things; for numbers multiplied and divided into themselves, signify the same as the numbers by which they are multiplied or divided (see n. 5291, 5335, 5708, 7973). That angelic speech also falls into numbers, may be seen in the work concerning Heaven and Hell 263). That four signifies the conjunction of good and truth, derives its origin from the four quarters in heaven, in two of which, namely, in the east and west, dwell those who are in the good of love, and in the other two, namely, in the south and the north, those who are in truths thence (as may also be seen in the work concerning Heaven and Hell 141-153). Hence by the four quarters, or by the four winds, are signified all good and the truth thence, and by four the conjunction thereof. The reason why the fourth part signifies the all of the conjunction of good and truth, is, because the fourth there makes the all, and the fourth is significative of conjunction; hence by killing the fourth part is signified the all of conjunction, consequently, all good and truth; for where there is no conjunction things are not, for good is not given without truth, nor truth without good; they are in their essence one, because truth is of good, and good is of truth (as is evident from what is said, and the passages adduced concerning good and truth in the Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 11-27).