The Bible

 

Genesis 1:9

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9 And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Apocalypse Explained #525

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525. And the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars.- That this signifies that all the good of love, all the good and truth of faith, and all cognition of good and truth perished, is evident from the signification of the third part, as denoting all (see above, n. 506); from the signification of the sun, which denotes the good of love from the Lord; and from the signification of the moon, which denotes the good and truth of faith from the Lord (see above, n. 401); and from the signification of stars, which denote the cognitions of good and truth, also, from the Lord (see above, n. 72, 402); and from the signification of being smitten, when stated of the goods of love and faith, and of the cognitions of good and truth, as denoting to perish. It is therefore evident, that by the third part of the sun being smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars, is signified that all the good of love, all the good and truth of faith, and all cognition of good and truth, perished. The sun, moon, and stars, here mentioned, do not mean the sun, moon, and stars, seen by the eyes of men in our solar world, but the sun, moon, and stars, seen by the eyes of angels in the spiritual world; for there the Lord appears as a sun before the eyes of those who from Him, are in the good of love to Him, and as a moon before those who are in the good and truth of faith; hence it is that the sun signifies the good of love, and the moon the good and truth of faith. That sun, that moon, and those stars, were seen by John, as is evident from the fact of his being in the spirit when he saw them. That the Lord appears as a sun and as a moon in the angelic heavens may be seen in the work concerning Heaven and Hell 116-125). It is from appearance that those things are said to have been smitten, for when the good of love, and the good and truth of faith are no longer with man, they appear to him to have, as it were, no existence and to have perished; and the Word in the sense of the letter is written according to appearances.

  
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Translation by Isaiah Tansley. Many thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.

The Bible

 

Zechariah 12:1

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1 The burden of the word of the LORD for Israel, saith the LORD, which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him.