The Bible

 

Genesis 6

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1 And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them,

2 That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.

3 And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.

4 There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.

5 And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

6 And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.

7 And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.

8 But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.

9 These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God.

10 And Noah begat three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.

12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.

13 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.

14 Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch.

15 And this is the fashion which thou shalt make it of: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits.

16 A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above; and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof; with lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make it.

17 And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and every thing that is in the earth shall die.

18 But with thee will I establish my covenant; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons' wives with thee.

19 And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee; they shall be male and female.

20 Of fowls after their kind, and of cattle after their kind, of every creeping thing of the earth after his kind, two of every sort shall come unto thee, to keep them alive.

21 And take thou unto thee of all food that is eaten, and thou shalt gather it to thee; and it shall be for food for thee, and for them.

22 Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he.

   

Commentary

 

The Meaning of Noah and the Flood

By OffTheLeftEye Staff

Is the Noah’s Ark story in the book of Genesis really about God destroying creation? A spiritual Bible interpretation of the story reveals its true meaning.

In this video, host Curtis Childs guides us through the revelations about the Old Testament parable that eighteenth-century philosopher Emanuel Swedenborg had during his spiritual experiences. Swedenborg’s perspectives transcend literal interpretations to provide a hopeful lesson about salvation. While it may seem like the Bible story is about God destroying creation, Swedenborg’s spiritual perspectives suggest that it symbolizes God’s still-ongoing efforts to save us from self-destruction.

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This video is a product of the Swedenborg Foundation. Follow these links for further information and other videos: www.youtube.com/user/offTheLeftEye and www.swedenborg.com

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #897

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897. The subject here being the regenerate member of the Ancient Church, 'seeing means acknowledging and possessing faith. That 'seeing' has this meaning becomes clear from the Word, as in Isaiah,

You did not look to the Maker of it, and Him who fashioned it long ago you did not set. Isaiah 21:11.

This refers to the city of Zion. 'Not seeing Him who fashioned it long ago' means not even acknowledging, let alone possessing faith. In the same prophet,

Make the heart of this people fat and their ears heavy, and plaster over their eyes, lest they see with their eyes and hear with their ears, and their heart understands and they turn again and are healed. Isaiah 6:10.

'Seeing with the eyes' stands for acknowledging and possessing faith. In the same prophet,

The people walking in darkness have seen a great light. Isaiah 9:2.

This refers to gentiles who received faith, as does the present verse which says that 'he removed the covering, and saw out'. In the same prophet,

On that day the deaf will hear the words of a book, and out of thick darkness and out of darkness the eyes of the blind will see Isaiah 19:18.

This refers to the conversion of gentiles to faith. 'Seeing' stands for receiving faith. In the same prophet,

Hear, you deaf, look and see, you blind. Isaiah 41:18.

Here the meaning is similar. In Ezekiel,

They have eyes to see but they see not; they have ears to hear but they hear not because they are a rebellious house. Ezekiel 12:2.

This stands for people who are capable of understanding, acknowledging, and possessing faith but who do not wish to. That 'seeing' means possessing faith is quite clear from the representation of the Lord by the bronze serpent in the wilderness when everyone who beheld it would be healed, and of which it is said in Moses,

Set a serpent on a standard, and it will happen that everyone who has been bitten, when he sees it, will live So it happened, if a serpent had bitten a man, when he saw the serpent of bronze, that he lived. Numbers 21:8-9.

Anyone may see from this that 'seeing' means faith, for what else can 'seeing' be in this instance than something representative of faith in the Lord? This point is clear also from the fact that Reuben, Jacob's firstborn, who was given that name from the word 'seeing', in the internal sense means faith. See what has been stated already about the firstborn of the Church in 352, 367.

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