29. Verses 11-12 And God said, Let the earth cause tender plants to spring up, seed-bearing plants, fruit trees bearing fruit, each according to its kind, in which is its seed, upon the earth; and it was so. And the earth brought forth tender herbs, seed-bearing plants, each according to its kind, and trees bearing fruit, in which is their seed, each according to its kind; and God saw that it was good.

Once the earth or the individual has been made ready in such a way that he can receive from the Lord heavenly seeds and produce some measure of good and truth, the Lord first of all causes something tender to spring up, which is: called 'a tender plant', then something more useful which reproduces itself and is called 'a seed-bearing plant', and finally something good which bears fruit and is called 'a tree bearing fruit' in which is its seed, 'each one according to its kind'. The person who is being regenerated is at first such as imagines that any good he does comes from himself, and that any truth he utters comes from himself; but the fact of the matter is that all good and all truth come from the Lord. Consequently anyone who imagines that these originate in himself does not as yet have the life that belongs to true faith, though he is able to receive it later on. Indeed he is not yet able to believe that they come from the Lord because his state is one of preparation for receiving the life inherent in faith. That state is represented in these verses by plant life, the subsequent state, when the life inherent in faith is present, by living creatures.

[2] The Lord Himself saw fit to tell us that He is 'the sower', that 'the seed' is His Word, and that 'the earth' is man, Matthew 13:19-24, 37-39; Mark 4:14-21; Luke 8:11-16. He describes the matter again in a similar way,

The kingdom of God is like a man casting seed into the ground, and sleeping and rising night and day, and the seed sprouts and springs up, he knows not how; for the earth bears fruit of itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full corn in the ear. Mark 4:26-28.

In the universal sense, 'the kingdom of God' is used to mean the whole of heaven, in the less universal sense the Lord's true Church, and in particular every individual who has true faith, that is, who has been regenerated by means of the life that inheres in faith. For that reason the individual is also called 'heaven', for heaven is within him, and 'the kingdom of God', since that too is within him. This the Lord Himself teaches through Luke,

Jesus was asked by the Pharisees, When is the kingdom of God coming? He answered them and said, The kingdom of God is not coming with observation, nor will people say, Behold, here it is! or, Behold, there! for behold, the kingdom of God is within you. Luke 17:20-21.

This is the third stage of a person's regeneration, a state when he is repentant. It is like passing from shadow into the light, or from evening to morning, and this is why it is said in Verse 13, And there was evening, and there was morning, a third day.

10452. 'The tablets were written on across them both, from the edge of one and from the edge of the other they were written on' means through which the Lord was joined to the human race, or heaven to the world. This is clear from the meaning of 'the tablets on which the Law had been inscribed' as the Word in its entirety, dealt with immediately above in 10451. As regards the writing extending across both sides, from one edge and from the other, that this means the Lord's being joined to the human race, see the explanation in 9416, 10375. This also explains why those tablets were called the tablets of the covenant, for 'a covenant' means a joining together, 665, 666, 1023, 1864, 1996, 2003, 2021, 6804, 8767, 8778, 9396.

[2] Since the Lord's being joined to the human race or heaven to the world through the Word is spoken of here, what this really is must be stated. Those who have no knowledge of the true nature of the Word cannot possibly believe that through it the Lord is joined to the human race, and heaven to the world; less still can those who spurn the Word or think it is worthless believe it. But let such people know that the heavens are kept in being through Divine Truth and that without that Truth they would not be heavens, and that the human race is kept in being through heaven. For unless heaven were flowing in to be present with a person no person could even begin to think or therefore desire anything in a rational manner. In order therefore that heaven may be kept in being, and the human race by being joined to it, the Lord has provided the Word, in which there is Divine Truth for angels in heaven and for people in the world. For the nature of the Word in its spiritual and celestial senses is such that they hold angelic wisdom itself within them, in a so highly exalted degree that a person can have scarcely any notion of its exalted nature, though in the letter it appears to be exceedingly simple and crude.

[3] From all this it is evident that when a person reads the Word heaven has the enjoyment of the wisdom it derives from the Word, and that at the same time the person is joined to heaven. This is the end for which such a Word has been given to mankind. From this it follows that if this means of joining together did not exist in the world the connection with heaven would perish, and with it all the good present in a person's will and all the truth in his understanding, and with these that essential human quality which enables one person to live in a community with another. Consequently evil and falsity would take possession of everything, as a result of which one community after another would be destroyed. For the situation would be like that when a person moves about in thick darkness and stumbles wherever he goes. It would be like that when the head is deranged and the body consequently behaves in a foolish and insane manner that leads to self-destruction. Or it would be like that when the heart is weak and internal organs and members consequently cease performing their functions until the whole is dead.

[4] This is what the condition of the human being would be if heaven were not joined to him; and heaven would not be joined to him if the Word did not exist, or else Divine Truth were not conveyed to him directly through angels, as it had been in ancient times. When the word 'heaven' is used that which is Divine should also be understood; for that which is Divine and the Lord's composes heaven. Thus being joined to heaven entails being joined to the Lord, and being separated from heaven entails being separated from the Lord; and being separated from the Lord entails destruction. For all ordering of things for good, which is called Providence, arises from there; and when Providence is taken away everything quickly deteriorates and goes to ruin. From all this it becomes clear what purpose the Word serves; but few will believe that the Word serves so great a purpose as that described above.