The Bible

 

Genesis 1:6

Study

       

6 And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.

Commentary

 

Spirit of God

  

'The spirit of God,' as in Genesis 1:2, signifies the divine mercy of the Lord.

'The spirit of God' denotes good from an interior level, so from the divine. The spirit of God is what proceeds from the divine, so from good itself, because the divine is good itself, and what proceeds from it is truth within which is good. This is what 'the spirit of God' signifies in the Word, because the spirit itself does not proceed, but the truth itself within which is good, the spirit being the instrument which produces it.

(References: Arcana Coelestia 19; Divine Love and Wisdom 100)


From Swedenborg's Works

 

Heaven and Hell #29

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29. THERE ARE THREE HEAVENS

There are three heavens, entirely distinct from one another, the inmost or third, the middle or second, and the outermost or first. These are in the same order and inter-relation as are the highest part of a man or his head, the middle part or body and the lowest or feet, or like the upper, middle and lowest stories of a house. In such order also is the Divine that proceeds and descends from the Lord. Consequently, from the necessity of order, heaven is threefold.

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