Arcana Coelestia # 9408
9408. 'And it was like the substance of the sky for clearness' means the translucence of the angelic heaven. This is clear from the meaning of 'the sky (or heaven)' as the angelic heaven, dealt with below; and from the meaning of 'clearness' or purity of substance, when said of the sky, as translucence. What the translucence of the angelic heaven is when the Word is the subject must be stated briefly. The angelic heaven is said to be translucent when God's truth shines through; for the whole of heaven is nothing other than a receptacle of God's truth. Each angel is an individual recipient of it, so that all the angels or heaven as a whole is a general recipient. This explains why heaven is called 'God's dwelling-place' and also 'God's throne'. For 'dwelling-place' means God's truth emanating from the Lord and received in the inmost heaven, which in comparison is good, 8269, 8309; and 'throne' means God's truth emanating from the Lord and received in the middle heaven, 5313, 6397, 8625, 9039. Since that which shines through, out of the sense of the letter of the Word, is God's truth as it exists in the heavens, it is the angelic heaven that shines through. For the Word is Divine Truth adjusted to all the heavens, and as a consequence of this it joins the heavens to the world, that is, angels to men, 2143, 7153, 7381, 8920, 9094 (end), 9212 (end), 9216 (end), 9357, 9396. From all this it is evident what the words 'the translucence of the angelic heaven' are used to mean.
[2] The reasons why in the internal sense 'the sky (or heaven)' means the angelic heaven lie with correspondence and also with the appearance. So it is that where the words 'heavens' and 'heavens of heavens' occur in the Word the angelic heavens are meant in the internal sense. For the ancients had no other idea of the visible sky than this, that the inhabitants of heaven lived there and that the stars were their dwelling-places. At the present day too, simple people - especially young children - have the same idea. So it is also that people look upwards to the sky or heaven when they worship God. This action too arises from correspondence; for a sky with stars appears in the next life, but this is not the sky seen by people in the world. Instead it is a sky that takes on an appearance which accords with the spirits and angels' state of intelligence and wisdom. The stars in it are cognitions or knowledge of goodness and truth, and the clouds which are sometimes seen in the sky vary in meaning according to their colours, translucence, and movements, the blue of the sky being truth transparent with good. All this goes to prove that by 'heavens' the angelic heavens are meant. But by the angelic heavens God's truths are meant, because angels are recipients of God's truth emanating from the Lord.
[3] Similar things are meant by 'heavens' in David,
Praise Jehovah, heavens of heavens, and waters that are above the heavens! Psalms 148:4.
In the same author,
Make melody to the Lord who rides above the heaven of the heaven of old. Psalms 68:33.
In the same author,
By the Word of Jehovah were the heavens made, and all the host of them by the spirit 1 of His mouth. Psalms 33:6.
In the same prophet,
The heavens recount His glory, and the firmament declares the works of His hands. Psalms 19:1.
In the Book of Judges,
O Jehovah, when You went forth from Seir, the earth trembled, the heavens also dropped, the clouds indeed dropped water. Judges 5:4.
In Daniel,
The horn of the he-goat grew right on towards the host of the heavens, and cast down to the earth some of the host, and of the stars, and trampled on them. Daniel 8:10.
In Amos,
The Lord Jehovih, who builds His steps in the heavens ... Amos 9:6.
In Malachi,
If there is food in My house I will open the windows of heaven and pour out a blessing for you. Malachi 3:10.
In Isaiah,
Look out from the heavens, and see from the dwelling-place of Your holiness and of Your glory. Isaiah 63:15.
In Moses,
Blessed by Jehovah is the land of Joseph, in regard to the precious things of heaven, to the dew. Deuteronomy 33:13.
In Matthew,
Jesus said, You shall not swear by heaven, for it is God's throne. He who swears by heaven swears by God's throne and by Him who sits on it. Matthew 5:32; 23:22.
[4] In these and very many other places 'heavens' means the angelic heavens. And since the Lord's heaven on earth is the Church, the Church too is meant by 'heaven', as in the following places: In John,
I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the former heaven and the former earth had passed away. Revelation 21:1.
In Isaiah,
Behold, I am creating new heavens and a new earth; therefore the former things will not be remembered or come to mind. 2 Isaiah 65:17.
In the same prophet,
The heavens will vanish away like smoke, and the earth will grow old like a garment. Isaiah 51:6.
In the same prophet,
I clothe heaven with darkness, and I make sackcloth its covering. Isaiah 50:3.
In Ezekiel,
I will cover the heavens, and darken their stars; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon will not give its light. And all the bright lights in heaven I will make dark, and I will put darkness over the land. Ezekiel 32:7-8.
In Matthew,
After the affliction of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Matthew 24:29.
What the meaning is of 'sun', 'moon', 'stars', and 'in the heavens', see 4056-4060.
In Isaiah,
O Jehovah God of Israel, You are God alone over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. Isaiah 37:16.
In the same prophet,
[I am] Jehovah who makes all things, who spreads out the heavens Alone, who stretches out the earth by Myself. Isaiah 44:24.
In the same prophet,
Jehovah who created the heavens, who formed the earth, and made it, and prepared it, did not create it an emptiness. Isaiah 45:18.
[5] In the internal sense 'heaven and earth' in these and other places means the Church, the internal Church being meant by 'heaven' and the external Church by 'earth', see 1733, 1850, 2117, 2118 (end), 3355 (end), 4535. From all this it is evident that by creation in the earliest chapters of Genesis, where it says, In the beginning God created heaven and earth, Genesis 1:1, And the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them, Genesis 2:1, a new Church is meant. For creation there describes regeneration, which is also called the new creation, as has been shown and may be seen in the explanations of those chapters.
Psalms 69
1
Save me, O God; for the waters are come in unto my soul.
2
I sink in deep mire, where there is no standing: I am come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me.
3
I am weary of my crying: my throat is dried: mine eyes fail while I wait for my God.
4
They that hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of mine head: they that would destroy me, being mine enemies wrongfully, are mighty: then I restored that which I took not away.
5
O God, thou knowest my foolishness; and my sins are not hid from thee.
6
Let not them that wait on thee, O Lord GOD of hosts, be ashamed for my sake: let not those that seek thee be confounded for my sake, O GOD of Israel.
7
Because for thy sake I have borne reproach; shame hath covered my face.
8
I am become a stranger unto my brethren, and an alien unto my mother's children.
9
For the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up; and the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me.
10
When I wept, and chastened my soul with fasting, that was to my reproach.
11
I made sackcloth also my garment; and I became a proverb to them.
12
They that sit in the gate speak against me; and I was the song of the drunkards.
13
But as for me, my prayer is unto thee, O LORD, in an acceptable time: O God, in the multitude of thy mercy hear me, in the truth of thy salvation.
14
Deliver me out of the mire, and let me not sink: let me be delivered from them that hate me, and out of the deep waters.
15
Let not the waterflood overflow me, neither let the deep swallow me up, and let not the pit shut her mouth upon me.
16
Hear me, O LORD; for thy lovingkindness is good: turn unto me according to the multitude of thy tender mercies.
17
And hide not thy face from thy servant; for I am in trouble: hear me speedily.
18
Draw nigh unto my soul, and redeem it: deliver me because of mine enemies.
19
Thou hast known my reproach, and my shame, and my dishonour: mine adversaries are all before thee.
20
Reproach hath broken my heart; and I am full of heaviness: and I looked for some to take pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none.
21
They gave me also gall for my meat; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.
22
Let their table become a snare before them: and that which should have been for their welfare, let it become a trap.
23
Let their eyes be darkened, that they see not; and make their loins continually to shake.
24
Pour out thine indignation upon them, and let thy wrathful anger take hold of them.
25
Let their habitation be desolate; and let none dwell in their tents.
26
For they persecute him whom thou hast smitten; and they talk to the grief of those whom thou hast wounded.
27
Add iniquity unto their iniquity: and let them not come into thy righteousness.
28
Let them be blotted out of the book of the living, and not be written with the righteous.
29
But I am poor and sorrowful: let thy salvation, O God, set me up on high.
30
I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify him with thanksgiving.
31
This also shall please the LORD better than an ox or bullock that hath horns and hoofs.
32
The humble shall see this, and be glad: and your heart shall live that seek God.
33
For the LORD heareth the poor, and despiseth not his prisoners.
34
Let the heaven and earth praise him, the seas, and everything that moveth therein.
35
For God will save Zion, and will build the cities of Judah: that they may dwell there, and have it in possession.
36
The seed also of his servants shall inherit it: and they that love his name shall dwell therein.
