The Bible

 

Genesis 1:9-14 : Third Day of Creation

Study

9 God said, "Let the waters under the sky be gathered together to one place, and let the dry land appear;" and it was so.

10 God called the dry land "earth," and the gathering together of the waters he called "seas." God saw that it was good.

11 God said, "Let the earth put forth grass, herbs yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit after their kind, with its seed in it, on the earth;" and it was so.

12 The earth brought forth grass, herbs yielding seed after their kind, and trees bearing fruit, with its seed in it, after their kind; and God saw that it was good.

13 There was evening and there was morning, a third day.

14 God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of sky to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days and years;

Commentary

 

Seven Practices of Peace - Part 3 of 7 – Cultivating

By Todd Beiswenger


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It's easy to dream big, but it is hard to actually DO big. As we embark on a new life, we need to cultivate new habits. The most sucessful way to do this is start with a tiny habit, much like how Scriptures say the first vegetation to turn up was "tender herbs", i.e. small plants. Taking care of small plants will lead to bigger ones, and eventually they're bear the fruit of our dreams.

(References: Arcana Coelestia 29 [1-2], 8093; Exodus 13:17-19; Genesis 1:9-14)

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #6049

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6049. 'And you are to say, Your servants have been keepers of livestock from our boyhoods and right up to now' means that the truths which lead to good have been present from the beginning and are present still. This is clear from the meaning of 'keepers of livestock' as truths that lead to good, dealt with in 6016, 6045; and from the meaning of 'from our boyhoods and right up to now' as from the beginning and remaining so still. Regarding the meaning of 'livestock' as truths that lead to good, it should be recognized that livestock includes all draught animals, large and small - both those in the flock and those in the herd, and in addition camels, horses, mules, and asses. The latter mean things connected with truths, whereas the former - members of the herd and of the flock - mean things connected with good. This then is why all these draught-animals in general, which are 'livestock', mean truths that lead to good. In the original language 'livestock' is derived from a word which also means acquisition, and 'acquisition' in the spiritual sense also means truth that leads to good, for the reason that good is acquired by means of truth. But the smaller animals mean interior forms of good since they are members of the flock, such as lambs, sheep, kids, she-goats, and rams.

[2] 'Livestock' also means truths that lead to good in other places in the Word, as in Isaiah,

Then He will give rain for your seed with which you will sow the land, and bread the produce [of the land]; and there will be fatness and wealthiness. On that day they will feed your livestock in a broad grassland. Isaiah 30:23.

'Feeding' stands for receiving instruction in truths and forms of good, 5201, while 'a broad grassland' stands for the doctrine of truth, the expression 'broad' being used because 'breadth' means truth, 3433, 3434, 4482. From this it is evident that 'livestock' means truths that lead to good. In Ezekiel,

To bring back your hand upon the inhabited waste places and upon the people that were gathered out of the nations, that are working with livestock and a possession - dwellers upon the navel of the earth. Ezekiel 38:11-12.

'Livestock' in a similar way stands for truths leading to good, 'a possession 'for good.

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