Arcana Coelestia #9408
9408. 'And it was like the substance of the sky for clearness' means the translucence of the angelic heaven. This is clear from the meaning of 'the sky (or heaven)' as the angelic heaven, dealt with below; and from the meaning of 'clearness' or purity of substance, when said of the sky, as translucence. What the translucence of the angelic heaven is when the Word is the subject must be stated briefly. The angelic heaven is said to be translucent when God's truth shines through; for the whole of heaven is nothing other than a receptacle of God's truth. Each angel is an individual recipient of it, so that all the angels or heaven as a whole is a general recipient. This explains why heaven is called 'God's dwelling-place' and also 'God's throne'. For 'dwelling-place' means God's truth emanating from the Lord and received in the inmost heaven, which in comparison is good, 8269, 8309; and 'throne' means God's truth emanating from the Lord and received in the middle heaven, 5313, 6397, 8625, 9039. Since that which shines through, out of the sense of the letter of the Word, is God's truth as it exists in the heavens, it is the angelic heaven that shines through. For the Word is Divine Truth adjusted to all the heavens, and as a consequence of this it joins the heavens to the world, that is, angels to men, 2143, 7153, 7381, 8920, 9094 (end), 9212 (end), 9216 (end), 9357, 9396. From all this it is evident what the words 'the translucence of the angelic heaven' are used to mean.
[2] The reasons why in the internal sense 'the sky (or heaven)' means the angelic heaven lie with correspondence and also with the appearance. So it is that where the words 'heavens' and 'heavens of heavens' occur in the Word the angelic heavens are meant in the internal sense. For the ancients had no other idea of the visible sky than this, that the inhabitants of heaven lived there and that the stars were their dwelling-places. At the present day too, simple people - especially young children - have the same idea. So it is also that people look upwards to the sky or heaven when they worship God. This action too arises from correspondence; for a sky with stars appears in the next life, but this is not the sky seen by people in the world. Instead it is a sky that takes on an appearance which accords with the spirits and angels' state of intelligence and wisdom. The stars in it are cognitions or knowledge of goodness and truth, and the clouds which are sometimes seen in the sky vary in meaning according to their colours, translucence, and movements, the blue of the sky being truth transparent with good. All this goes to prove that by 'heavens' the angelic heavens are meant. But by the angelic heavens God's truths are meant, because angels are recipients of God's truth emanating from the Lord.
[3] Similar things are meant by 'heavens' in David,
Praise Jehovah, heavens of heavens, and waters that are above the heavens! Psalms 148:4.
In the same author,
Make melody to the Lord who rides above the heaven of the heaven of old. Psalms 68:33.
In the same author,
By the Word of Jehovah were the heavens made, and all the host of them by the spirit 1 of His mouth. Psalms 33:6.
In the same prophet,
The heavens recount His glory, and the firmament declares the works of His hands. Psalms 19:1.
In the Book of Judges,
O Jehovah, when You went forth from Seir, the earth trembled, the heavens also dropped, the clouds indeed dropped water. Judges 5:4.
In Daniel,
The horn of the he-goat grew right on towards the host of the heavens, and cast down to the earth some of the host, and of the stars, and trampled on them. Daniel 8:10.
In Amos,
The Lord Jehovih, who builds His steps in the heavens ... Amos 9:6.
In Malachi,
If there is food in My house I will open the windows of heaven and pour out a blessing for you. Malachi 3:10.
In Isaiah,
Look out from the heavens, and see from the dwelling-place of Your holiness and of Your glory. Isaiah 63:15.
In Moses,
Blessed by Jehovah is the land of Joseph, in regard to the precious things of heaven, to the dew. Deuteronomy 33:13.
In Matthew,
Jesus said, You shall not swear by heaven, for it is God's throne. He who swears by heaven swears by God's throne and by Him who sits on it. Matthew 5:32; 23:22.
[4] In these and very many other places 'heavens' means the angelic heavens. And since the Lord's heaven on earth is the Church, the Church too is meant by 'heaven', as in the following places: In John,
I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the former heaven and the former earth had passed away. Revelation 21:1.
In Isaiah,
Behold, I am creating new heavens and a new earth; therefore the former things will not be remembered or come to mind. 2 Isaiah 65:17.
In the same prophet,
The heavens will vanish away like smoke, and the earth will grow old like a garment. Isaiah 51:6.
In the same prophet,
I clothe heaven with darkness, and I make sackcloth its covering. Isaiah 50:3.
In Ezekiel,
I will cover the heavens, and darken their stars; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon will not give its light. And all the bright lights in heaven I will make dark, and I will put darkness over the land. Ezekiel 32:7-8.
In Matthew,
After the affliction of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Matthew 24:29.
What the meaning is of 'sun', 'moon', 'stars', and 'in the heavens', see 4056-4060.
In Isaiah,
O Jehovah God of Israel, You are God alone over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. Isaiah 37:16.
In the same prophet,
[I am] Jehovah who makes all things, who spreads out the heavens Alone, who stretches out the earth by Myself. Isaiah 44:24.
In the same prophet,
Jehovah who created the heavens, who formed the earth, and made it, and prepared it, did not create it an emptiness. Isaiah 45:18.
[5] In the internal sense 'heaven and earth' in these and other places means the Church, the internal Church being meant by 'heaven' and the external Church by 'earth', see 1733, 1850, 2117, 2118 (end), 3355 (end), 4535. From all this it is evident that by creation in the earliest chapters of Genesis, where it says, In the beginning God created heaven and earth, Genesis 1:1, And the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them, Genesis 2:1, a new Church is meant. For creation there describes regeneration, which is also called the new creation, as has been shown and may be seen in the explanations of those chapters.
Psalms 105
1
Give thanks to Yahweh! Call on his name! Make his doings known among the peoples.
2
Sing to him, Sing praises to him! Tell of all his marvelous works.
3
Glory in his holy name. Let the heart of those who seek Yahweh rejoice.
4
Seek Yahweh and his strength. Seek his face forever more.
5
Remember his marvelous works that he has done; his wonders, and the judgments of his mouth,
6
you seed of Abraham, his servant, you children of Jacob, his chosen ones.
7
He is Yahweh, our God. His judgments are in all the earth.
8
He has remembered his covenant forever, the word which he commanded to a thousand generations,
9
the covenant which he made with Abraham, his oath to Isaac,
10
and confirmed the same to Jacob for a statute; to Israel for an everlasting covenant,
11
saying, "To you I will give the land of Canaan, the lot of your inheritance;"
12
when they were but a few men in number, yes, very few, and foreigners in it.
13
They went about from nation to nation, from one kingdom to another people.
14
He allowed no one to do them wrong. Yes, he reproved kings for their sakes,
15
"Don't touch my anointed ones! Do my prophets no harm!"
16
He called for a famine on the land. He destroyed the food supplies.
17
He sent a man before them. Joseph was sold for a slave.
18
They bruised his feet with shackles. His neck was locked in irons,
19
until the time that his word happened, and Yahweh's word proved him true.
20
The king sent and freed him; even the ruler of peoples, and let him go free.
21
He made him lord of his house, and ruler of all of his possessions;
22
to discipline his princes at his pleasure, and to teach his elders wisdom.
23
Israel also came into Egypt. Jacob lived in the land of Ham.
24
He increased his people greatly, and made them stronger than their adversaries.
25
He turned their heart to hate his people, to conspire against his servants.
26
He sent Moses, his servant, and Aaron, whom he had chosen.
27
They performed miracles among them, and wonders in the land of Ham.
28
He sent darkness, and made it dark. They didn't rebel against his words.
29
He turned their waters into blood, and killed their fish.
30
Their land swarmed with frogs, even in the rooms of their kings.
31
He spoke, and swarms of flies came, and lice in all their borders.
32
He gave them hail for rain, with lightning in their land.
33
He struck their vines and also their fig trees, and shattered the trees of their country.
34
He spoke, and the locusts came, and the grasshoppers, without number,
35
ate up every plant in their land; and ate up the fruit of their ground.
36
He struck also all the firstborn in their land, the first fruits of all their manhood.
37
He brought them forth with silver and gold. There was not one feeble person among his tribes.
38
Egypt was glad when they departed, for the fear of them had fallen on them.
39
He spread a cloud for a covering, fire to give light in the night.
40
They asked, and he brought quails, and satisfied them with the bread of the sky.
41
He opened the rock, and waters gushed out. They ran as a river in the dry places.
42
For he remembered his holy word, and Abraham, his servant.
43
He brought forth his people with joy, his chosen with singing.
44
He gave them the lands of the nations. They took the labor of the peoples in possession,
45
that they might keep his statutes, and observe his laws. Praise Yah!
