The first book of the Bible is "Genesis", which means "creation". It's a very, very ancient story - one of the oldest stories of humankind, and it's full of symbolic meaning that - still - gets to the core of what it is to be truly human.

The first three days of creation describe the development of the natural degree of man's life. They come first as a preparation for the opening of the spiritual degree of our minds. The creation of the grass, herbs, and trees took place on the third day, and constitutes the third step in regeneration. The creation of the fowl and fish was on the fifth day. Between these on the fourth day the sun, moon, and stars were created.

From the beginning man had light, for all light is from the Lord, but it was not direct light. He was not at first in the clear light of the sun, moon, and stars, which are set in the firmament. The firmament is the internal man. There is a preparation that has to be made before the internal man is opened. At first we think we see the truth and do good from ourselves. Hence only inanimate things are produced. All truth and good are from the Lord who alone is truth and goodness, and only when we come to acknowledge this can we have true love from him, true faith in Him, and true knowledge of spiritual things. These are not seen from the external or natural degree of life.

Again we should note a change of language. It was said, "Let the earth bring forth" the grass, herb, and fruit trees. Now and through the remaining days it is said that "God created." Man has a part to play in his regeneration. There must be in his mind forms into which the warmth of love and the light of faith and of spiritual truths can flow.

When the mind is so prepared, influx from the Lord can be received, with greater power. "And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven." It should be noted that it is the waters that are commanded to bring forth the moving creature that hath life, and that it is not the seas but the waters which are to produce the living creatures. The seas represent the gathering together of knowledges, but by the "waters" are meant the spiritual truths in the mind. So in the Lord's words to the woman of Samaria, "Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst" (John 4:14). In Ezekiel it is the "waters" issuing from the sanctuary that give life (Ezekiel 47:1). The Psalmist writes, "Who layeth the beams of his chambers in the waters" (Psalm 104:3). It is not in natural waters that the Lord lays the beams of His chambers. His chambers are the interior principles of His church; the beams give them support and strength. These are said to be laid in the waters because they rest and have their foundation in the genuine truths of the Word. So in Revelation the Word itself is described as a pure river of water of life.

The will faculty in man embraces all his affections and is the internal man. When the sun, moon, and stars—love, faith, and knowledges of spiritual truth—are set in this heaven and begin to impart their warmth and light to the external man, enabling him to think and act from these higher and purer principles, then the external man is gifted with a new life. There may be no apparent change in his outward conduct—he may already be living a moral life—but the motives that direct his acts will be wholly different. And it is the motive that gives character to the act as well as to the actor. He no longer thinks of the truths that he has learned, either natural or spiritual, as the product of his own mind nor of the good, that he does as the result of his own efforts, but thinks of them as wholly from the Lord, who alone is the source of all true light and life.

Before one recognizes clearly that all good and truth come from the Lord, he can bring forth only inanimate things, the grass, herb, and fruit tree, however good and useful these may be. But when he is enlightened by genuine love and faith, his knowledges become the basis for the development of spiritual life and God can create in him the living creatures that have life. First the fishes are created; then the fowl of the air. There is a difference between fishes and birds. The fishes, living in water, represent our affections for natural truths. The great whales, the largest of living creatures, are affections for the great general principles that control the mind. The principle may be either true or false. Of Pharaoh or Egypt it is written, "Thou art as a whale in the seas: and thou earnest forth with thy rivers, and troubledst the waters with thy feet, and fouled at their rivers" (Ezekiel 32:2) Here is pictured a ruling false principle from the natural degree of the mind — Egypt. That is, when the ruling principle is false, it will be a monster making the truths in the mind obscure like filthy or muddy waters.

Another example of the meaning of the whale in a bad sense is in the story of Jonah. When the principle is false it swallows up for a time all the truths that are in the mind. This is the whale swallowing Jonah the prophet. But Divine truth cannot be used by a false principle so as to become a part of its organic structure. Nor can the Divine truth perish. So the whale could not digest Jonah, nor could the prophet perish, but the whale vomited him up.

Spiritually there are whales trying to swallow prophets today, evil principles that try to use Divine truths to attain their ends. In the creation story, however, the whales are affections for the principles of natural truth for the sake of uses to the spiritual man. There is one source of genuine love. The creatures of the fifth day are living because they are animated by this love. Birds fly in the air above the earth. They have the power of flight and enjoy broader views. They represent affections for truth that rise above the natural. They are the thoughts that look at life from the heights of spiritual perception, ideas about the Lord, heaven, and spiritual things. Isaiah writes, "They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles" (Isaiah 40:31). Birds represent spiritual intelligence, the power to lift us up to understand spiritual truth in heavenly light, through which truth the Lord can impart to us something of the Divine intelligence. So at the baptism of the Lord "The heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him" (Matthew 3:16). So a new knowledge of heavenly life is given, a new perception of our possibilities, and in this higher intelligence a basis for further development is laid. This further development is pictured in the creation of the living creatures upon the earth. These are symbols of the affections. Here, too, it is said, "Let the earth bring forth" and also "And God made the beast of the earth." The creation of living animals on the earth and of man in the image and likeness of God marks the completion of the six days of creation—the six stages in regeneration. Man has first to learn what is to be believed and done and then to do it.

It is the office of the understanding to hear the Word and of the will to do it. In this way the truths are made our own, and the will and understanding make one mind. And when one begins to act from love as well as from faith, he becomes a spiritual man, who is called an image of God, and is given dominion over all things. Thus all things natural and spiritual come to be a delight to him and serviceable to him. To be an image and likeness of God one must act from impulses similar to those of God. This he cannot do until he comes into the final state of regeneration. Then he will not act from selfish motives, as does the natural man, nor from mere obedience to truth, but from love to the Lord and the neighbor. When these loves are developed and rule, to them is given the dominion over all subordinate affections and the fruits of all the growths of intelligence. These are what make man to be a man and cause him to be in the image and likeness of his Maker. Each step in the formation of a truly human character the Lord saw and pronounced good, but of the work of the sixth day it is said, "God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good."

513. Verse 9. And there died the third part of the creatures in the sea having souls, signifies that in consequence every living knowledge [scientificum] in the natural man perished. This is evident from the signification of "dying," as being to perish spiritually, that is, in respect to the life of heaven; also from the signification of the "third part," as being all (See above, n. 506); also from the signification of the "creatures in the sea" (or fishes), as being knowledges [scientifica] (of which presently); also from the signification of "having souls," as being to be alive; consequently "there died the third part of the creatures in the sea having souls" signifies that in consequence every living knowledge perished. A living knowledge means a knowledge that derives life from spiritual affection; for that affection gives life to truths, and thus gives life to knowledges, for knowledges are containants of spiritual truths (See above, n. 506, 507, 511).

[2] "The creatures of the sea" (or fishes) signify knowledges, because the "sea" signifies the natural man, and thus "fishes in the sea" signify the knowledges themselves that are in the natural man. This signification of "fishes" also is from correspondence, for the spirits that are not in spiritual truths, but only in natural truths, which are knowledges, appear in the spiritual world in seas, and when viewed by those who are above, as fishes; for the thoughts that spring from the knowledges with such present that appearance. For all the ideas of the thought of angels and spirits are turned into various representatives outside of them; when turned into such things as are of the vegetable kingdom they are turned into trees and shrubs of various kinds; and when into such things as are of the animal kingdom they are turned into land animals and flying things of various kinds; when the ideas of the angels of heaven are turned into land animals they are turned into lambs, sheep, goats, bullocks, horses, mules, and other like animals; but when into flying things they are turned into turtle doves, pigeons, and various kinds of beautiful birds. But the ideas of thought of those who are natural and who think from mere knowledges are turned into the forms of fishes. Consequently in the seas various kinds of fishes appear, and this it has often been granted me to see.

[3] It is from this that in the Word "fishes" signify knowledges, as in the following passages. In Isaiah:

At My rebuke I dry up the sea, I make the rivers into a wilderness; their fish shall rot because there is no water, and shall die of thirst (Isaiah 50:2).

"The rebuke of Jehovah" means the ruin of the church, which takes place when there is no knowledge of truth and good, that is, no living knowledge, because there is no perception; "dry up the sea" signifies to deprive the natural man of true knowledges [scientifica], and thus of natural life from the spiritual; "to make the rivers into a wilderness" signifies a similar deprivation in the rational man whence there is no intelligence; "their fish shall rot because there is no water, and shall die of thirst," signifies that there is no longer any living knowledge [scientificum], because there is no truth, "fish" meaning knowledge, "water" truth, and "to rot" meaning to perish in respect to spiritual life.

[4] The like that is here said of the sea, that "a third part of it became blood, and thence the third part of the creatures in it died," is said also of Egypt, that its river and all its waters became blood, and consequently the fish died, in Moses:

Moses said to Pharaoh that the waters of the river should be turned into blood, and that consequently the fish should die, and the river should stink, and that the Egyptians would loathe to drink the waters of the river; and this was also done in respect to all the water in Egypt (Exodus 7:17-25).

It is said of this in David:

He turned their waters into blood, and slew their fish (Psalms 105:29).

The like was done in Egypt, because "Egypt" signifies the natural man in respect to its knowledge [scientificum], or the knowledge belonging to the natural man; "the river of Egypt" signifies intelligence acquired by means of knowledges; "the river becoming blood" signifies intelligence from mere falsities; "the fish dying" signifies that true knowledges were destroyed by falsities, for knowledges live by truths but are destroyed by falsities, for the reason that all spiritual truth is living, and from it is all the life, or as it were the soul, in the knowledges; therefore without spiritual truth knowledge is dead.

[5] In Ezekiel:

I am against thee, Pharaoh, king of Egypt, the great whale that lieth in the midst of his rivers, that hath said, My river is mine own, and I have made myself. Therefore I will put hooks in thy jaws, and I will cause the fish of thy rivers to stick unto thy scales, and I will bring thee up out of the midst of thy rivers, that all the fish of thy rivers may stick unto thy scales. And I will abandon thee in the wilderness, thee and all the fish of thy rivers (2 Ezekiel 29:3-5).

"Pharaoh" has a similar signification as "Egypt," for the king and the people have a similar signification, namely, the natural man and knowledge therein; therefore he is called "a great whale;" "whale (or sea-monster)" signifying knowledge in general; therefore it is said that "he shall be drawn out of the river," and that then "the fish shall stick to his scales," which signifies that all intelligence is to perish, and that knowledge (scientia) which will take its place will be in the sensual man without life. In the sensual man, which is the lowest natural, standing out nearest to the world, there are fallacies and falsities therefrom, and this is signified by "the fish sticking to the scales" of the whale. That the natural man and the knowledge therein will be without life from any intelligence is signified by "I will abandon thee in the wilderness, thee and all the fish of thy rivers." That such things would come to pass because the natural man attributes all intelligence to itself, is signified by "that hath said, My river is mine own, I have made myself," "river" meaning intelligence.

[6] In Moses:

The sons of Israel said in the wilderness, We remember the fish that we did eat in Egypt freely, and the cucumbers and the melons, and the leeks and the onions and the garlic; now our soul is dried up; there is nothing at all except this manna before our eyes. Afterwards there went forth a wind from Jehovah, and snatched quails from the sea, and let them fall over the camp. But because of this lust Jehovah smote the people with a very great plague; consequently the name of that place was called the Graves of Lust (Numbers 11:5, 6, 31, 33, 34).

This signified that the sons of Israel were averse from things spiritual and hungered after natural things; indeed, they were not spiritual but merely natural, only representing a spiritual church by external things. That they were averse from spiritual things is signified by "our soul is dried up, there is nothing at all except this manna before our eyes," "manna" signifying spiritual food, which is knowledge (scientia), intelligence, and wisdom. That they hungered after natural things is signified by "their lusting after the fish in Egypt, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic," all which signify such things as belong to the lowest natural, that is, the sensual-corporeal man; and because they rejected things spiritual, and coveted merely natural things instead, "they were smitten with a great plague, and the name given to the place was the Graves of Lust."

[7] In Ezekiel:

He said to me, These waters go forth toward the eastern boundary, and go down into the plain and come towards the sea, being sent forth into the sea that the waters may be healed; whence it comes to pass that every living soul that creeps, whithersoever the brooks come, shall live; whence there is exceeding much fish. Therefore it shall come to pass that the fishers shall stand upon it from En-gedi even unto En-eglaim; with the spreading of nets are they there; their fish shall be according to their kind, as the fish of the great sea, exceeding many. But the miry places and the marshes thereof which are not healed shall be given to salt (Ezekiel 47:8-11).

This treats of the house of God, which signifies heaven and the church; and "the waters that go forth out of the house of God towards the east" signify Divine truth reforming and regenerating; the "plain" and the "sea" into which the waters go down, signify the ultimate things of heaven and the church, which with the men of the church are the things that belong to the natural and sensual man, the "plain" signifying the interior things thereof, and the "sea" the exterior things thereof; that both cognitions from the Word and confirming knowledges [scientifica] receive spiritual life through this Divine truth is signified by "the waters of the sea are healed thereby," and by "every soul that creepeth shall live," and by "there shall be exceeding much fish;" that there are in consequence true and living knowledges of every kind is signified by "their fish shall be according to their kind, as the fish of the great sea, exceeding many." Those who are reformed, and thence become intelligent, are meant by "the fishers from En-gedi even to En-eglaim." Those who cannot be reformed because they are in the falsities of evil are signified by "the miry places and marshes that are not healed, but are given to salt." Everyone can see that this does not mean that fishes are multiplied by the waters going forth out of the house of God, but that "fishes" mean such things in man as can be reformed, since "the house of God" means heaven and the church, and the "waters going forth therefrom" mean Divine truth reforming.

[8] In the Word here and there mention is made of "the beast of the earth," "the fowl of heaven," and "the fish of the sea," and he who does not know that the "beast of the earth" (or of the field) means man's voluntary faculty, "the fowl of heaven" his intellectual faculty, and "the fish of the sea" his knowing faculty, cannot know at all the meaning of these passages, as in the following. In Hosea:

Jehovah hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land. Therefore the land shall mourn, and everyone that dwelleth therein shall languish, among the beasts of the field, and among the fowl of the heavens; and also the fishes of the sea shall be gathered up (Hosea 4:1, 3).

In Zephaniah:

I will consume man and beast, I will consume the fowl of the heavens, and the fishes of the sea, and the stumbling blocks with the wicked (Zephaniah 1:3).

In Ezekiel:

In the day that Gog shall come upon the land of Israel, there shall be a great earthquake over the land of Israel, and the fishes of the sea, and the fowl of the heavens, and the beast of the field, shall quake before Me (Ezekiel 38:18-20).

In Job:

Ask the beasts and they shall teach thee, or the fowl of heaven and they shall tell thee, or the shrub of the earth and it shall teach thee, and the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee. Who doth not know by all these things that the hand of Jehovah doeth this? (Job 12:7-9).

In these passages "the beast of the field" means man's voluntary faculty, "the fowl of heaven" his intellectual faculty, and "the fish of the sea" his knowing faculty; otherwise how could it be said "the beasts shall teach thee, the fowl of heaven shall tell thee, and the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee, that the hand of Jehovah doeth this"? Also it is said, "Who doth not know by all these things?"

[9] Likewise in David:

Thou madest him to rule over the works of Thy hands; Thou hast put all things under his feet, the flock and all herds, the beasts of the fields, the fowl of heaven, and the fish of the sea, whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas (Psalms 8:6-8).

This is said of the Lord and His dominion. That He has dominion over angels in the heavens and over men on the earth is known from the Word, for He says that unto Him "all power in heaven and in earth has been given" (Matthew 28:18); but that dominion was given to Him over animals, fowl, and fishes, is not a matter of sufficient importance to be mentioned in the Word, where each and every thing has reference to heaven and the church. It is therefore evident that "flock and herds, the beasts of the fields, the fowl of heaven, and the fish of the sea," mean such things as belong to heaven with angels and to the church with man, "the flock and the herds" signifying, in general, things spiritual and natural, the "flock" things spiritual, and "herds" things natural that are with man, or that belong to the spiritual mind and to the natural mind with him. "The beasts of the fields" signify things voluntary, which belong to the affections; "the fowl of heaven" signify things intellectual, which belong to the thoughts; and "the fishes of the sea" signify knowledges (scientifica) which belong to the natural man.

[10] Like things are signified by these words in the first chapter of Genesis:

And God said, We will make man in Our image, after Our likeness; that he may have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of heaven, and over every animal that creepeth upon the earth (verses 26, 28).

This chapter treats in the internal spiritual sense of the establishment of the Most Ancient Church, thus of the new creation or regeneration of the men of that church. That it was given to them to perceive all things of their affection which belong to the will, and to see all things of their thought which belong to the understanding, and to so rule over them as not to wander away into the lusts of evil and into falsities, is meant by "that he may have dominion over the fish of the sea, and the fowl of heaven, and every animal of the earth;" and man has dominion over these things when the Lord has dominion over man, for man of himself does not have dominion over anything in himself. "The fish of the sea, the fowl of heaven, and the beast of the field," have this signification because of their correspondence. The correspondences of the interior things of man with these things stand forth so as to be clearly seen in the spiritual world; for there beasts of every kind, and birds, and fishes in the seas, are seen, which nevertheless are nothing else than the ideas of thought that flow forth from affections, and these are presented under such forms because they are correspondences.

[11] Because "fishes" signify the knowledges and cognitions belonging to the natural man that serve the spiritual man as means for becoming wise, so "fishers" mean in the Word those who are merely in knowledges, also those who are acquiring knowledges for themselves, also those who teach others and by means of knowledges reform them. The works of such are meant by "the casting and spreading of nets," as in the following passages. In Isaiah:

The fishers shall moan, and all they that cast the hook into the river shall mourn, and they that spread the net upon the faces of the waters shall languish (Isaiah 19:8).

"The fishers that cast the hook into the river and they that spread the net" mean those who wish to acquire for themselves knowledges and through these intelligence, here that they are unable to do this because there are no knowledges of truth anywhere.

[12] In Jeremiah:

I will bring back the sons of Israel again upon their land; I will send to many fishers who shall fish them; then I will send to many hunters, who shall hunt them from upon every mountain and from upon every hill, and out of the clefts of the cliffs (Jeremiah 16:15, 16).

"To send to fishers who shall fish them, and to hunters who shall hunt them," means to call together and establish the church with those who are in natural good and in spiritual good, as may be seen above n. 405.

[13] In Habakkuk:

Wherefore dost Thou make man as the fishes of the sea, as the creeping thing that hath no ruler? Let him draw up all with the hook, and gather him into his net. Shall he therefore empty his net, and not pity to slay the nations continually? (Mark 1:14, 15, 17).

This was said of the Chaldean nation wasting and destroying the church; and the Chaldean nation signifies the profanation of truth, and the vastation of the church. "To make men as the fishes of the sea, and as the creeping thing that hath no ruler," signifies to make man so natural that his knowledges (scientifica) are devoid of spiritual truth, and his delights are devoid of spiritual good; for in the natural man there are knowledges by which come thoughts, and delights by which come affections; and if the spiritual is not dominant over these, both thoughts and affections are wandering, and thus man is destitute of the intelligence that should lead and rule. That then every falsity and every evil has power to draw them over to their side, and thus wholly destroy them, is signified by "Let him draw out all with the hook, and gather into his net, and afterwards slay," "to draw out" meaning out of truth and good, "into his net" meaning into falsity and evil, and "to slay" meaning to destroy.

[14] In Amos:

The days will come in which they shall draw you out with hooks, and your posterity with fish hooks (Amos 4:2).

This signifies leading away and alienating from truths by means of acute reasonings from falsities and fallacies; it is said of those who abound in knowledges because they have the Word and the prophets; such are here meant by "the kine of Bashan in the mountain of Samaria."

[15] From this the meaning of "fishermen," "fishes" and "nets," so often mentioned in the New Testament, can be seen, as in the following passages:

Jesus saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishers. And He said unto them, Come ye after Me, and I will make you fishers of men (Matthew 4:18, 19: Mark 1:16, 17).

Jesus entered into Simon's boat and was teaching the multitude. After that He told Simon to let out his nets for a draught, and they inclosed a great multitude of fishes, so that the boats were filled, and in danger of sinking. And amazement seized them all, because of the draught of fishes; and He said unto Simon, Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men (Luke 5:3-10).

In this also there is a spiritual sense, like that in the rest of the Word; the Lord's choosing these fishermen and saying that "they should become fishers of men," signified that they should gather to the church; "the nets which they let out, and in which they inclosed a great multitude of fishes, so that the ships were in danger of sinking," signified the reformation of the church through them, for "fishes" here signify the knowledges of truth and good by means of which reformation is effected, likewise the multitude of men who are to be reformed.

[16] The draught of fishes by the disciples after the Lord's resurrection has a like signification; it is thus described in John:

When Jesus manifested Himself to the disciples, who were fishing, He told them to cast the net on the right side of the boat. And they took so many that they were not able to draw the net for the multitude of fishes. When they descended upon the land they saw a fire built, and a little fish lying thereon, and bread. And Jesus gave them the bread, and the little fish likewise (John 21:2-13).

The Lord manifested Himself while they were fishing, because "to fish" signified to teach the knowledges of truth and good, and thus to reform. His commanding them "to cast the net on the right side of the boat" signified that all things should be from the good of love and charity, "the right side" signifying that good from which all things should come, for so far as knowledges are derived from good, so far they live and are multiplied. They said that "they had labored all the night and had taken nothing," which signified that from self or from one's own (proprium) nothing comes, but that all things are from the Lord; and the like was signified by the "fire" on which was the little fish, and by the "bread;" for the "bread" signified the Lord and the good of love from Him, and "the fish on the fire" the knowledge of truth from good, the "fish" the knowledge of truth, and the "fire" good. At that time there were no spiritual men, because the church was wholly vastated, but all were natural, and their reformation was represented by this fishing, and also by the fish on the fire. He who believes that the fish on the fire and the bread that were given to the disciples to eat were not significative of something higher is very much mistaken, for the least things done by the Lord and said by Him were significative of Divine celestial things, which become evident only through the spiritual sense. That this "fire of coals" and "fire" mean the good of love, and that "bread" means the Lord in relation to that good, has been shown above; and that a "fish" means the knowledge of truth and the knowing faculty of the natural man is clear from what has been said and shown in this article.

[17] It is also said by the Lord that:

The kingdom of the heavens is like unto a net cast into the sea bringing together every kind of fish, which when it was full they drew upon the beach, and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away. So shall it be in the consummation of the age (Matthew 13:47-49).

The separation of the good and the evil is here likened to "a net cast into the sea bringing together every kind of fish," for the reason that "fishes" signify natural men in respect to knowledges and cognitions, and in "the consummation of the age," or at the time of the Last Judgment, such are separated from one another; for there are good natural men and bad natural men; and the separation of these in the spiritual world has the appearance of a net or drag-net cast into the sea, bringing together the fish, and drawing them to the shore, and this appearance is also from correspondence. This is why the Lord likens the kingdom of the heavens to "a net bringing together the fish." That the separation of the good from the evil presents this appearance it has been granted me to see.

[18] That natural men are signified by "fish" is clear from this miracle of the Lord:

Those who received the half-shekel came. Jesus said to Simon, The kings of the earth, from whom do they receive tribute or toll? from their sons or from strangers? Peter said unto Him, From strangers. Jesus said unto him, Therefore are the sons free. But lest we cause them to stumble, go thou to the sea and cast a hook, and take up the fish that first cometh up, and open its mouth and thou shalt find a shekel; that take and give unto them for Me and thee (Matthew 17:24-27).

"To pay tribute and toll," signified to be subject and to serve, therefore tribute was imposed on strangers, who were not of the sons of Israel, as is evident from the histories of the Word. "The sons of Israel," with whom was the church, signified the spiritual, and "strangers" the natural; and what is natural is subject to what is spiritual and serves it, for the spiritual man is like a lord, and the natural man like a servant; and as the natural are servants, and are therefore meant by those who pay tribute, so it was brought about that neither the Lord nor Peter, but the "fish," which signified the natural man, should furnish the tribute.

[19] The Lord's glorification of His Human, even to its ultimate, which is called natural and sensual, is signified by the following:

Jesus, having appeared to the disciples, said, See My hands and My feet, that it is I myself; feel of Me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones as ye behold Me having. And He showed them the hands and feet. And He said unto them, Have ye here anything to eat? They gave Him a piece of a broiled fish and of a honeycomb. And He took it and did eat before them (Luke 24:38-43).

That the Lord glorified His Human even to its ultimate, which is called the natural and sensual, He made manifest by showing the hands and feet, and by the disciples feeling them, and by His saying that "a spirit hath not flesh and bones as He had;" and by His eating of the broiled fish and honeycomb. "Hands and feet" signify the ultimates of man, likewise "flesh and bones;" and "broiled fish" signifies the natural in respect to truth from good, and "honey" the natural in respect to the good from which is truth. Because these corresponded to the natural man, and thence signified it, they were eaten in the presence of the disciples; for a "fish," as has been shown in this article, signifies from correspondence the natural in respect to knowing [scientificum]; wherefore also "a fish" signifies in the Word knowledge and the knowing faculty [scientificum et cognitivum] which belong to the natural man, and a "broiled fish" signifies knowledge that is from natural good; but with the Lord it signifies the Divine natural in respect to truth from good (that "honey" signifies natural good may be seen in Arcana Coelestia, n. 5620, 6857, 10137, 10530). One who does not know that in each particular of the Word there is a spiritual sense, and that the sense of the letter, which is the natural sense, consists of correspondences with things spiritual, cannot know this arcanum, namely, why the Lord ate of the broiled fish and honeycomb in the presence of His disciples, nor why, as here, He gave broiled fish and bread to His disciples; and yet each and every thing that the Lord said and did was Divine, and these Divine things lie hidden in each thing written in the Word.

[20] From this the signification of "there died the third part of the creatures in the sea having souls" can now be seen, namely, that every living knowledge in the natural man perished; or, what is the same, that the natural man in respect to knowledges therein died. The natural man is said to be dead when it is not made alive from the spiritual man, that is, by influx out of heaven from the Lord through the spiritual man, for the Lord flows in through the spiritual man into the natural. When, therefore, no truth of heaven is any longer acknowledged, and no good of heaven affects man, the spiritual mind, which is called the spiritual man, is closed up, and the natural mind receives mere falsities from evil, and falsities from evil are spiritually dead, since truths from good are what are spiritually alive.

[21] It is said "the third part of the creatures," because "creatures" and "animals" signified in the Word the affections and thoughts therefrom in man; consequently they mean men themselves in respect to affections and thoughts. Such is the signification of "creatures" in Mark:

Jesus said to the disciples, Going into all the world, preach ye the Gospel to every creature (Mark 16:15).

Also above in Revelation:

And every creature that is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth, and those that are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Unto Him that sitteth upon the throne and unto the Lamb be the blessing, and the honor, and the glory, and the strength, unto the ages of the ages (Revelation 5:13).

It is evident that here "every creature" means both angels and men, for it is said that "he heard them saying." (See above, n. 342-346, where this is explained.)