28. Verse 10 And God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering together of the waters He called Seas; and God saw that it was good.

It is very common in the Word for 'waters' to mean cognitions and facts, and consequently for 'seas' to mean a gathering together of them, as in Isaiah,

The earth will be full of the knowledge of Jehovah as the waters covering the sea. Isaiah 11:9.

And in the same prophet, with reference to a lack of cognitions and facts,

The waters will dry up from the sea, the river will be parched and dry, and the streams will diminish. Isaiah 19:5-6.

In Haggai, with reference to a new Church,

I will shake the heavens and the earth, and the sea and the dry land; and I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory. Haggai 2:6-7.

And with reference to someone who is to be regenerated, in Zechariah,

There will be one day - it is known to Jehovah - not day and not night, for at evening time there will be light; and on that day living waters will flow out from Jerusalem, part of them to the eastern sea, and part of them to the western sea. Zechariah 14:7-8.

In David where the person is described who, having been vastated, is to be regenerated, and to worship the Lord, Jehovah does not despise His bound ones. Heaven and earth will praise Him, the seas and everything that creeps in them! Psalms 69:33-34.

That 'the earth' means that which receives is seen in Zechariah,

Jehovah is He who stretches out the heavens, and founds the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him. Zechariah 12:1.

117. As for the fact that there has been religion from the earliest times and that people all over the world have known about God and have known something about life after death, this did not come from the people themselves and from their own mental acuity, but from that former Word discussed in §§101-103 above, and later from the Israelite Word. Religious principles spread from these sources into southeast Asia, including its islands; through Egypt and Ethiopia into Africa; and from the coast of Asia Minor into Greece and from there into Italy.

But since there was no way the Word could be composed except in the language of representative imagery, in images of things characteristic of this world that corresponded to and therefore signified heavenly realities, the religions of many nations were turned into idolatries - in Greece into fables - and divine attributes and characteristics were turned into individual gods led by one highest God whom people called Jove, from “Jehovah.” It is common knowledge that [ancient people] were familiar with paradise, the Flood, sacred fire, and the four ages - from the first Golden Age to the last Iron Age - which serve in the Word to mean the four states of the church, as in Daniel 2:31-35.

It is also common knowledge that Islam, which came later and wiped out the preceding religious cultures of many nations, was drawn from the Word of both Testaments.

101. Before the Word That We Have in the World Today, There Was a Word That Has Been Lost

BEFORE the Word was given to the Israelite nation through Moses and the prophets, people were familiar with sacrificial worship, and there was prophecy at Jehovah’s command. We can tell this from what it says in the books of Moses.

As for their familiarity with sacrificial worship, we read that the children of Israel were commanded to overthrow the altars of the nations, shatter their statues, and cut down their groves (Exodus 34:13; Deuteronomy 7:5; 12:3). We also read that at Acacia Grove Israel began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab; they summoned people to sacrifices to their gods and the people feasted and bowed down to their gods and especially became attached to the Baal of Peor; and Jehovah became angry with Israel because of this (Numbers 25:1-3). And Balaam, who was from Syria, had altars built and sacrificed cattle and sheep (Numbers 22:40; 23:1-2, 14, 29-30).

[2] As for there also being prophecy at Jehovah’s command, this we can tell from the prophecies of Balaam (Numbers 23:7-10, 18-24; 24:3-9, 16-24). In fact, he prophesied about the Lord, saying that a star would rise out of Jacob and a scepter out of Israel (Numbers 24:17). As for his prophesying at Jehovah’s command, see Numbers 22:13, 18; 23:3, 5, 8, 16, 26; 24:1, 13.

This shows that the nations had divine worship that resembled the worship instituted by Moses for the Israelite nation.

[3] We get a glimpse of the fact that this was the case even before the time of Abram from what it says in Moses (Deuteronomy 32:7-8). It is clearer, though, in the case of Melchizedek, King of Salem, who brought out bread and wine and blessed Abram, and Abram gave him a tenth of everything he owned (Genesis 14:18-20). Melchizedek represented the Lord, for he is referred to as “a priest to God the Highest” (Genesis 14:18) and it says of the Lord in David, “You are a priest forever after the manner of Melchizedek” (Psalms 110:4). That was why Melchizedek brought out the bread and the wine as holy elements of the church, just as they are in the sacrament of the Holy Supper. It is also why Melchizedek blessed Abram and why Abram gave him a tenth of everything he owned.