402. Internal Meaning of Genesis, Chapter 1 (1)

1-31 In the spiritual sense the new creation or the regeneration of the men of the Most Ancient Church is here described; the process of their regeneration from firsts to lasts is here contained in its order.

8420. 'Whether they walk in My law or not' means, whether they can lead a life of truth and good. This is clear from the meaning of 'walking' as living, dealt with in 519, 1794; and from the meaning of 'law' as the Word, dealt with in 2606, 3382, 6752. And since the Word is meant, so is Divine Truth, 7463, and thus also teachings about what is good and true, so that 'walking in the law of Jehovah' means leading a life of truth and good as teachings about them demand. Everyone knows that 'walking in the law' means living as the law demands, for the expression is part of everyday language. From this it may be seen that [the activity] 'walking' means living, and also that the actual word 'walking', like so many other words, carries the very meaning it possesses in the spiritual sense. This is attributable solely to the influx of the spiritual world into ideas composing thought, and then into words; for without that influx would anyone ever talk of walking instead of living - of walking in the law, in the statutes, in the commandments, or in the fear of God? The same applies to 'going', that it means living, referred to just above in 8417, and also to travelling, advancing, and sojourning. The reason why these words mean living is that the spiritual world is not one of spatial dimensions but of states of life instead, 2625, 2684, 2837, 3356, 3387, 4321, 4882, 5605, 7381.