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.
Arcana Coelestia #872
872. That the “faces of the ground” mean those things which are in the man of the church, and that the “ground” is mentioned because this is the first state when the man is becoming a church, is evident from the signification of “ground” (shown above), as being the man of the church, who is called “ground” when the goods and truths of faith can be sown in him, but before this he is called “earth.” So in the first chapter of Genesis, before the man became celestial, “earth” is predicated of him; but when he became celestial, as described in the second chapter, “ground” and “field” are predicated of him. It is similar in the present chapter. Merely from the word “earth” and the word “ground” may be seen what is signified in the internal sense, not only here, but everywhere in the Word. By “ground” in the universal sense is signified the church; and because the church, the man of the church is also signified; for, as said before, each man of the church is a church.