The Bible

 

Genesis 1:29

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29 And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.

Commentary

 

Morning

  
Two gorgeous red poppies -- one popped, and one just about to.

Morning comes with the rising of the sun, and the sun -- which gives life to the earth with its warmth and light -- represents the Lord in His divinity, bringing spiritual life through love and wisdom. Thus, the morning represents the coming of the Lord into our lives, and all the things that flow from it: the love, joy and enlightenment He brings; the peace and tranquility of passing the spiritual obscurity of night; the anticipation of the learning and usefulness of a new day; and the awareness of The Lord's renewed presence.

(References: Apocalypse Explained 179; Apocalypse Revealed 151; Arcana Coelestia 2333 [1-3], 2540, 2780, 5740, 8211, 8812, 10134, 10200, 10413; True Christian Religion 764 [1-2])

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #8658

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8658. 'Where he was encamped at the mountain of God' means near to the good of truth. This is clear from the meaning of 'encamping' as an arrangement into order of the Church's truth and good with a person, dealt with in 8103 (end), 8130, 8131, 8155; and from the meaning of 'the mountain of God' as the good of love, dealt with in 795, 796, 2722, 4210, 6435, 8327, at this point the good of truth, since the subject is the good of those belonging to the spiritual Church, who are represented by 'the children of Israel'. Good as it exists with them is the good of truth, and this good is also the good of charity. This also accounts for the words 'the mountain of God', for 'God' is used when truth is the subject, and 'Jehovah' when good is the subject, 2586, 2769, 2807, 2822, 3921 (end), 4295, 4402, 7268, 7873. From all this it is evident that 'he was encamped at the mountain of God' means an arrangement into order of the Church's good and truth near to the good of truth.

[2] How to understand all this must also be stated briefly. When a person is in the first state, that is to say, when his actions spring from truth but not as yet from good, that is, when they spring from faith but not as yet from charity, he is in the state in which temptations have to be undergone. By means of these he is brought step by step to the second state - to the one in which his actions spring from good, that is, from charity and the affection belonging to it. When therefore he is getting near to that state he is said 'to be encamped at the mountain of God', that is, at the good from which his actions later on spring. This is said because what follows refers to a new arrangement or re-ordering of truths for entrance into that state, to which members of the Church also come after they have undergone temptations and before God's law is written on their hearts. In what has gone before temptations have been the subject, and in what now follows the subject is the law issued from Mount Sinai, 'Mount Sinai' being good which holds truth within it.

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