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.

2861. That 'so it was, after these events' means the things that had been accomplished in regard to those within the Church is clear from the meaning of 'words' as real things. In the original language real things are called 'words', so that 'after these events' means the things that had been accomplished. The subject in what has gone before, from verse 13 to the present verse, has been the salvation of those who are spiritual by the Lord's Divine Human, and indeed of those who are endowed with good within the Church. These are ones who are able to be truly spiritual because they possess the Word and so the truths of faith. It is by means of the truths of doctrine joined to goodness of life that a person becomes spiritual. Everything spiritual originates in these when joined together. But gentiles outside the Church, because they do not possess the Word nor thus the truths of faith as long as they are in the world, even though the good of charity exists with them, are not truly spiritual until they have been taught the truths of faith. And because most gentiles in the world are not able to be taught, those who have led charitable and obedient lives one with another are, in the Lord's providence and mercy, taught in the next life. At that time they accept the truths of faith without difficulty and become spiritual. For such is the state and condition of gentiles in the next life, see 2589-2604.

[2] Since those within the Church who are saved by the Lord's Divine Human have been the subject in what has gone before, the subject in what follows from here to the end of the chapter is therefore those outside the Church who are saved. These are meant by the sons who were born to Nahor, Abraham's brother, by Milkah his wife and by Reumah his concubine. This also follows in the sequence of thought. Anyone who is unacquainted with the internal sense of the Word would imagine that these words merely presented the family-tree of the house of Terah, given on account of Rebekah, who became the wife of Isaac, and also on account of Bethuel, whose two granddaughters, Leah and Rachel, became the wives of Jacob. But in fact, as has often been stated and shown, all names in the Word mean real things, 1224, 1264, 1876, 1888. And unless they meant real things the Word would not be Divine but worldly. From this it may also become clear that the words which follow have regard in the train of thought to the Lord's spiritual Church, but that Church as it exists among gentiles. It was traced back through Nahor, Abraham's brother, so as to mean those who exist in a brotherly relationship by virtue of good, as shown below in 2863.