The Bible

 

Genesis 1:3

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3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Spiritual Experiences #1973

  
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1973. What "evening and morning," "day," Genesis I, are

I discussed with spirits what "day" means, and what "evening and morning," Gen. I. That "day" means time in general one can very readily learn from the Scriptures, where that expression stands for time.

  
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Thanks to the Academy of the New Church, and Bryn Athyn College, for the permission to use this translation.

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #25

Study this Passage

  
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25. 'Spreading out the earth and stretching out the heavens' is a common expression in the Prophets when the subject is man's regeneration, as in Isaiah,

Thus said Jehovah, your Redeemer, He who formed you from the womb, I am Jehovah who makes all things, who stretches out the heavens Alone, and who spreads out the earth by Myself. Isaiah 44:24.

Also, when it is speaking of the Lord's Coming,

A bruised reed He does not break off and a smoking wick He does not quench; He brings forth judgement towards truth; that is, He neither shatters man's illusions nor stifles his desires. Instead He bends them towards truth and good. This verse in Isaiah continues,

The God Jehovah creates the heavens and stretches them out: He spreads out the earth and what comes from it: He gives breath 1 to the people upon it, and spirit to those who walk on it. Isaiah 42:3-5.

Such phrases recur several times elsewhere.

Footnotes:

1. literally, soul

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