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Genesis第8章

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1 And God remembered Noah, and all the beasts, and all the cattle that were with him in the ark: and God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters assuaged;

2 the fountains also of the deep and the windows of heaven were stopped, and the rain from heaven was restrained;

3 and the waters returned from off the earth continually: and after the end of a hundred and fifty days the waters decreased.

4 And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat.

5 And the waters decreased continually until the tenth month: in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, were the tops of the mountains seen.

6 And it came to pass at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made:

7 and he sent forth a raven, and it went forth to and fro, until the waters were dried up from off the earth.

8 And he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters were abated from off the face of the ground;

9 but the dove found no rest for the sole of her foot, and she returned unto him to the ark; for the waters were on the face of the whole earth: and he put forth his hand, and took her, and brought her in unto him into the ark.

10 And he stayed yet other seven days; and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark;

11 and the dove came in to him at eventide; and, lo, in her mouth an olive-leaf plucked off: so Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth.

12 And he stayed yet other seven days, and sent forth the dove; and she returned not again unto him any more.

13 And it came to pass in the six hundred and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried up from off the earth: and Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and, behold, the face of the ground was dried.

14 And in the second month, on the seven and twentieth day of the month, was the earth dry.

15 And God spake unto Noah, saying,

16 Go forth from the ark, thou, and thy wife, and thy sons, and thy sons' wives with thee.

17 Bring forth with thee every living thing that is with thee of all flesh, both birds, and cattle, and every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth; that they may breed abundantly in the earth, and be fruitful, and multiply upon the earth.

18 And Noah went forth, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons' wives with him:

19 every beast, every creeping thing, and every bird, whatsoever moveth upon the earth, after their families, went forth out of the ark.

20 And Noah builded an altar unto Jehovah, and took of every clean beast, and of every clean bird, and offered burnt-offerings on the altar.

21 And Jehovah smelled the sweet savor; and Jehovah said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake, for that the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more everything living, as I have done.

22 While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.

   

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Arcana Coelestia#931

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931. That 'during all the days of the earth' means the whole of time is clear from the meaning of 'day' as a period of time, see 23, 487, 488, 493. Here therefore 'days of the earth' is the whole time the earth remains, or is inhabited. The earth ceases to be inhabited the moment the Church is no more. For when the Church is no more, no communication of man with heaven exists any longer, and when this communication comes to an end every inhabitant perishes. As stated already, the Church is like the heart and lungs in the individual. As long as the heart is sound, and also the lungs, the individual is alive; and the same applies to the Church and its relationship to the Grand Man, which is heaven in its entirety. This is the reason for the statement here 'during all the days of the earth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night will not cease'. From this it also becomes clear that the earth is not going to last for ever, but that it too will come to an end, for the reference is 'all the days of the earth', that is, as long as the earth remains.

[2] People are however mistaken in their belief that the end of the earth will be one and the same event as the Last Judgement referred to in the Word, that is to say, where the close of the age, the day of visitation, and the Last Judgement, are described. For a last judgement befalls every Church when it has been vastated, that is, when no faith exists there any longer. A last judgement on the Most Ancient Church took Place when it perished, as it did among its final descendants who lived immediately prior to the Flood. A last judgement on the Jewish Church took place when the Lord came into the world. And a further last judgement will take place when the Lord comes in glory. This does not mean that at that time the earth and the world are going to be destroyed, but that the Church is destroyed and, as always happens, a new Church is raised up by the Lord at that time. At the time of the Flood the Ancient Church was raised up, at the time of the Lord's Coming the primitive Church among gentiles; and the same will happen when the Lord comes in glory. It is also what 'a new heaven and a new earth' are used to mean.

[3] It is similar with everyone who has been regenerated and becomes a member of the Church, that is, becomes the Church. When he has been created anew his internal man is called 'a new heaven' and his external 'a new earth'. In addition a last judgement awaits everybody when he dies, for at that point, according to how he has acted during his lifetime, his judgement points either to death or to life. The fact that the close of the age, the end of days, or the Last Judgement have no other meaning, and do not therefore mean the destruction of the world, is quite clear from the Lord's words in Luke,

In that night there will be two in one bed, one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding together, one will be taken and the other left. Two will be in the field, one will be taken and the other left. Luke 17:34-36.

Here the last times are called 'night' because no faith, that is, no charity exists. The fact that some will be 'left' however is a clear indication that the world is not going to be destroyed at that time.

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