16. Verse 1. In the beginning God created heaven and earth. The most ancient times of all are called 'the beginning', and are throughout the Prophets referred to as 'days of antiquity' and also 'days of eternity'. 'The beginning' also embodies within it that first Period when a person is being regenerated, for at that time he is being born anew and receiving life. Regeneration itself is therefore called a new creation of man. Almost everywhere in the prophetical sections 'to create', 'to form', and 'to make' mean to regenerate, though each of these verbs has a different shade of meaning, as in Isaiah,

Every one who is called by My name - I have created him for My glory, I have formed him, I have also made him. Isaiah 43:7

This is why the Lord is called Redeemer, One who forms from the womb, Maker, and also Creator, as in the same prophet,

I am Jehovah, your Holy One, the Creator of Israel, your King. Isaiah 43:15.

In David,

A people to be created will praise Jah. Psalms 102:18.

In the same author,

You send forth Your Spirit; they are created; and You renewest the face ¹ of the ground. Psalms 104:30.

'Heaven' means the internal man, and 'earth' the external man prior to regeneration. This will be seen further on.

Footnotes:

774. '[Every] wild animal according to its kind' means all spiritual good, '[every] beast according to its kind' all natural good, and '[every] creeping thing that creeps over the earth [according to its kind]' all sensory and bodily good. This has been stated and shown already in 45, 46, 142, 143, 246. At first glance however it does not look at all possible for 'wild animal' to mean spiritual good. It becomes clear that it does so from the train of thought: first of all 'they' are mentioned, that is, the member of the Church, after that 'wild animal', then 'beast', and finally 'creeping thing'. Consequently 'wild animal' embodies something nobler and more excellent than 'beast' does, the reason being that in Hebrew the word used also means a living creature which contains a living soul. And so here also it does not mean a wild animal but a living creature containing a living soul, for it is the same word. That 'living creatures, beasts, and creeping things that creep over the earth' means things of the will has been stated and shown already, and further evidence will be shown later on where birds are dealt with.