The Bible

 

Genesis 1:26

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26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #28

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28. Verse 10 And God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering together of the waters He called Seas; and God saw that it was good.

It is very common in the Word for 'waters' to mean cognitions and facts, and consequently for 'seas' to mean a gathering together of them, as in Isaiah,

The earth will be full of the knowledge of Jehovah as the waters covering the sea. Isaiah 11:9.

And in the same prophet, with reference to a lack of cognitions and facts,

The waters will dry up from the sea, the river will be parched and dry, and the streams will diminish. Isaiah 19:5-6.

In Haggai, with reference to a new Church,

I will shake the heavens and the earth, and the sea and the dry land; and I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory. Haggai 2:6-7.

And with reference to someone who is to be regenerated, in Zechariah,

There will be one day - it is known to Jehovah - not day and not night, for at evening time there will be light; and on that day living waters will flow out from Jerusalem, part of them to the eastern sea, and part of them to the western sea. Zechariah 14:7-8.

In David where the person is described who, having been vastated, is to be regenerated, and to worship the Lord, Jehovah does not despise His bound ones. Heaven and earth will praise Him, the seas and everything that creeps in them! Psalms 69:33-34.

That 'the earth' means that which receives is seen in Zechariah,

Jehovah is He who stretches out the heavens, and founds the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him. Zechariah 12:1.

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

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Apocalypse Explained #945

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945. Wherefore all nations shall come and worship before thee. That this signifies that all who are in the good of love, and in the truths therefrom, shall acknowledge His Divine, is evident from the signification of nations, as denoting those who are in the good of love, and in the truths therefrom (concerning which see (n. 175, 331, 625); and from the signification of worshipping, as denoting to acknowledge in heart, and to worship; see above (n. 795, 805, 821). That by all nations such persons only are meant is evident; for there are also those who will not acknowledge the Lord.

Continuation:-

When a man is in that state, then he is raised up from his proprium. For a man is in his proprium when he is only in the natural external, but he is raised up from the proprium when he is in the spiritual internal. This elevation is not perceived by him, except from this, that he does not think evils, and that he turns away from thinking them, and that he is delighted with truths, and also with good uses. Such a man, however, if he advances further into that state, perceives influx in a kind of thought; but still he is not withheld from thinking and willing as of himself. For this the Lord wills for the sake of his reformation; but still he ought to acknowledge that nothing of good or of the truth therefrom is from himself, but from the Lord.

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