The Bible

 

Genesis 1:7

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7 And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #8891

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8891. 'For in six days Jehovah made heaven and earth, and the sea' means regenerating and vivifying the things in the internal man and in the external. This is clear from the meaning of 'six days' as states of conflict, dealt with just above in 8888, and - when used in reference to Jehovah, that is, the Lord - as His labour with a person before he is regenerated, 8510; from the meaning of 'heaven and earth' as the Church or Lord's kingdom in a person, 'heaven' being in his internal man and 'earth' in his external, dealt with in 82, 1411, 1733, 1850, 2117, 2118 (end), 3355 (end), 4535, so that a person who has been regenerated is meant, that is, one who has acquired new life and accordingly been vivified; and from the meaning of 'the sea' as the sensory awareness adhering to the bodily level of a person's mind, dealt with in 8872.

[2] The present verse deals with the sanctifying of the seventh day or institution of the sabbath, describing it as follows,

In six days Jehovah made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore Jehovah blessed the sabbath day, and sanctified it.

When people's thinking does not extend beyond the sense of the letter they cannot do other than suppose that the creation described in the first and second chapters of Genesis is the creation of the universe, and that there were six days within which heaven, earth, the sea, and all that is in them were created, and at length the human being in God's likeness. Yet is there anyone pondering on the details who fails to see that the creation of the universe is not what is meant there? For there are things in those chapters which common sense tells anyone are not literally true, for example, that days existed before the sun and moon, that light and darkness did so, and that plants and trees sprang up, when in fact it is through those [great] lights that light is given, light and darkness are divided, and so days come into being.

[3] Further on after these details, others of a similar nature follow which scarcely anyone who thinks more deeply will consider to have been literally possible, such as these: The woman was built out of the man's rib; two trees were placed in paradise, the fruit of one of which they were forbidden to eat; a serpent spoke from one of them to the wife of man (homo), who had been the wisest of mortal beings; what it said - what came out of the serpent's mouth - deceived them both; and the whole human race, numbering so very many thousands of thousands, was therefore condemned to hell. As soon as they are contemplated these and similar details there inevitably seem nonsensical to those who entertain any doubt about the holiness of the Word; and they lead to a denial of the Divine there. However it should be realized that every detail there down to the smallest is Divine; they all contain arcana which are clearly visible to angels in heaven, as in broad daylight. The reason why this should be so is that angels do not see the literal meaning of the Word but what lies within it, that is, spiritual and celestial realities, and Divine ones within these. When the first chapter of Genesis is read they perceive no other creation than the new creation of a human being, which is called regeneration. This is what is described there, 'paradise' being the wisdom of a person created anew. 'The two trees in the middle of it' are the two mental powers of that person, which are a will desiring good, meant by 'the tree of life', and an understanding seeing truth, meant by 'the tree of knowledge'. And the reason why they were forbidden to eat from this tree was that a person who has been regenerated or created anew ought no longer to be led by an understanding that sees truth but by a will desiring good, or else his newness of life is destroyed. Regarding these matters, see 202, 337, 2454, 2715, 3246, 3652, 4448, 5895 (end), 5897 (end), 7877, 7923, 7992, 8505, 8506, 8510, 8512, 8516, 8539, 8643, 8648, 8658, 8690, 8701, 8722. Consequently Adam or Man and Eve his wife there are used to mean a new Church, and 'eating from the tree of knowledge' to mean the decline of that Church from good into truth, consequently from love to the Lord and towards the neighbour into faith without such love. And this came about through reasoning arising from self-intelligence, that reasoning being meant by 'the serpent', see 195-197, 6398, 6399, 6949, 7293.

[4] From all this it is evident that the historical narratives regarding creation, and regarding the first human being and paradise, are the descriptions of fictitious historical events, containing heavenly and Divine realities within them. Making up such stories was in keeping with the accepted custom in the ancient Churches; and the custom also spread from them to many outside the Church, who in a similar way produced descriptions of fictitious historical events, wrapping up arcana within them, as is evident from writers belonging to most ancient times. For the ancient Churches were well acquainted with what such things as exist in the world meant in heaven. Nor were great exploits of sufficient importance for them to write about, only the things of heaven. Things of heaven occupied their minds because they thought on a more internal level than people do at the present day and so were in contact with angels; and for this reason they gained a delight out of putting together such stories. But they were led by the Lord to images which would be held sacred in Churches. Out of these they composed stories in which everything had a correspondence

[5] All this shows what 'heaven and earth' is used to mean in the first verse of the first chapter of Genesis - the internal Church and the external Church. The fact that they are meant by 'heaven and earth' is also clear from places in the Prophets which speak of a new heaven and a new earth, by which a new Church is to be understood, see 82, 1411, 1733, 1850, 2117, 2118 (end), 3355 (end), 4535.

From all this it is now evident that 'in six days Jehovah made heaven and earth, and the sea' means regenerating and vivifying the things in the internal man and in the external man.

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

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #7926

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7926. 'To inflict the plague on Egypt' means as a result of which damnation comes to those belonging to the Church who have been governed by faith separated from charity. This is clear from the meaning of 'the plague', which in this case is the death of the firstborn, as the damnation of those belonging to the Church [who have been governed by faith] separated from charity, dealt with in 7766, 7778. For 'Egypt' - that is, the Egyptians - means those who have had a knowledge of those kinds of things that belong to the Church, yet have separated life from religious teaching, that is, charity from faith. The Egyptians too were like them, for they possessed a knowledge of the things belonging to the Church at that time, a Church that was representative. They were familiar with the representations of spiritual realities through natural things, which constituted the ceremonies of the Church at that time, and were accordingly familiar with correspondences, as is plainly shown by their hieroglyphics, which were pictures of natural things representing spiritual realities. This explains why 'the Egyptians' means those who have a knowledge of matters of faith yet lead an evil life. In the next life such people undergo vastation of all that composes faith, that is, all that composes the Church, and are eventually damned. That damnation is what is understood in the internal sense by the death of the firstborn in Egypt.

[2] Since it says 'Jehovah will go through to inflict the plague on Egypt', and these words mean the presence of the Divine, as a result of which damnation comes to those belonging to the Church who have been governed by faith separated from charity, something must be said to explain all this. Jehovah or the Lord does not present Himself among those in hell in order to inflict damnation; but even so His presence is what brings it about. The hells have a constant desire to molest the good and also a constant longing to rise into heaven and dislodge those who are there, though their efforts cannot get them past those living in the outermost parts of heaven. For it is enmity constantly exhaling hostility and violence. But the Lord makes unceasing provision to keep those living in the outermost parts of heaven secure and undisturbed. This He accomplishes by His presence among them. When those belonging to hell bring themselves to where the Lord is present, that is, into His presence, they cast themselves into the miseries of vastation, and eventually into damnation; for as shown already in various places, the Lord's presence which they run into brings those things about. From this it is evident that the Lord does not present Himself among them in order to inflict the miseries of punishment on them, but that they cast themselves into those miseries. These considerations show that nothing but good is attributable to the Lord, and that everything bad is attributable to those themselves who are immersed in evil, thus that the ones to inflict vastation, damnation, and hell on the evil are the evil themselves. This shows one how to understand 'Jehovah will go through to inflict the plague on Egypt'.

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