229. The beginning of the creation of God. That this signifies faith from Him, which is the primary of the church as to appearance, is evident from the signification of beginning, as being what is primary; and from the signification of the creation of God, as being the church, of which we shall speak presently. The reason why faith is meant by the beginning of the creation of God is, that this is the subject treated of in what is written to the angel of this church; but that faith is the beginning of the creation of God, that is, the primary thing of the church as to appearance, shall now be explained. By faith is here meant faith from the Lord; for faith which is not from the Lord is not the faith of the church, and faith from the Lord is the faith of charity. This faith is the first principle of the church as to appearance, because it appears first to the man of the church; nevertheless, charity itself is actually the first principle of the church, because it constitutes the church with man.

[2] There are two things that constitute the church, namely, charity and faith, charity pertains to affection, and faith to thought therefrom. The very essence of thought is affection; for without affection no one can think, the all of the life, which is in thought, being from affection. It is therefore evident, that the first principle of the church is the affection which is of charity, or love. But the reason why faith is called the first principle of the church is, that it is the first to appear; for what a man believes, that he thinks, and sees in thought; whereas that with which man is spiritually affected, he does not think, nor, therefore, does he see it in thought, but he perceives it in a certain sense which has no reference to sight, but to another sensitive, which is called that of delight. And because this delight is spiritual, and above the feeling of natural delight, a man does not perceive it, until he becomes spiritual, that is, when he is regenerated by the Lord. This is why the things of faith, thus those of sight, are believed to be the primary things of the church, although they are so only in appearance. This therefore is called the beginning of the creation of God, because the Word in the letter is according to appearance; for the appearance in the letter is for the simple; but spiritual men, like the angels, are raised above appearances, and perceive the Word as it is in its internal sense, consequently they perceive that charity is the first principle of the church, and that faith is therefrom; for, as was said above, faith which is not from charity, and which does not pertain to charity, is not faith (concerning this, see what is said in the small work, The Last Judgment 33-39).

[3] What is the first principle of the church, whether faith or charity, has been a matter of controversy, even from ancient times; and those who were unacquainted with the nature of charity have said that faith is the first principle; but those who were acquainted with the nature of charity have affirmed that charity is the first, and that faith is charity as to appearance, because the affection of charity, which appears to the sight in thought, is faith; for the delight of affection, when it passes from the will into the thought, forms itself, and in various forms renders itself visible. This was unknown to the simple; therefore they took that to be the first principle of the church which appeared before the sight of their thought; and because the Word in the letter is written according to appearances, therefore this is there called the first, the beginning, and the first-born. For this reason, Peter, by whom was represented the faith of the church, is said to be the first of the apostles; whereas John was the first, because John represented the good of charity. That John, and not Peter, was the first of the apostles, is evident from the fact that John leaned on the breast of the Lord, and that he, and not Peter, followed the Lord (John 21:20-22). (That by the twelve disciples of the Lord were represented all the truths and goods of the church, may be seen, Arcana Coelestia 2129, 3354, 3488, 3858, 6397; that by Peter was represented faith, n. 4738, 6000, 6073, 6344, 10087, 10580; and that by John was represented the good of charity, n. 3934, 10087.)

[4] For the same reason also, Reuben (because he was the first-born of Jacob) represented faith, and it was believed that the tribe which had its name from him was the first; but that tribe was not the first, but the tribe of Levi, because Levi represented the good of charity; therefore also this tribe was appointed to the priesthood, and the priesthood is the first thing of the church. (That by the twelve sons of Jacob, or the twelve tribes named from them, were represented all the truths and goods of the church, may be seen, in Arcana Coelestia 3858, 3926, 4060, 6335, 7836, 7891, 7996; that by Reuben was represented faith, n. 3861, 3866, 4605, 4731, 4734, 4761, 6342-6345; and that by Levi was represented the good of charity, n. 3875, 4497, 4502, 4503.) It is also for the same reason, that, in the first chapter of Genesis, which, in the sense of the letter, treats of the creation of heaven and earth, but, in the internal sense, of the new creation, or regeneration, of the man of the church at that time, it is there said that light was first made, and afterwards the sun and the moon, as may be seen, verses 3-5, and 14-19 in that chapter, although the sun is first, and light from it. The reason why light was said to be the first of creation was, that by light is signified the truth of faith, and by the sun and moon the good of love and charity. (That by the creation of heaven and earth, in the first chapter of Genesis, in the spiritual sense, is meant and described the new creation of the man of the celestial church, or his regeneration, may be seen in the explanation of that chapter in Arcana Coelestia, and also, n. 8891, 9942, 10545. That light signifies truth from good, thus also the truth of faith, may be seen in the work, Heaven and Hell 126-140; and that the sun signifies the good of love, and the moon the good of charity, both from the Lord, may be seen in the same work, n. 116-125, 146.) From these considerations it is evident that the beginning of the creation of God signifies faith from the Lord, which is the first principle of the church as to appearance.

9915. 'The work of a weaver' means from the celestial. This is clear from the meaning of 'the work of a weaver' as from the celestial. 'The work' means that which is created or comes into being, thus that which arises from another, while 'a weaver' is the one who causes it to exist or come into being. He accordingly means the celestial, for from this and through this the spiritual derives its being. It has been shown above in 9913, 9914, that the good of the celestial kingdom flows into the good of the spiritual kingdom, giving it its being. But whether you say the good of the celestial kingdom or the celestial, it amounts to the same thing; for the celestial is the good of that kingdom. And the same applies to the good of the spiritual kingdom and the spiritual. What the good of the celestial kingdom or the celestial is, and what the good of the spiritual kingdom or the spiritual is, see the places referred to in 9277.

[2] In the heavens there are three realities that follow one another in order - the celestial, the spiritual, and the natural. The celestial composes the inmost heaven, the spiritual the middle heaven, and the natural emanating from the spiritual the lowest heaven. The same three are present in the human being, and in him they follow one another in the same order as they do in the heavens; for a person who has been regenerated is heaven in the smallest form this can take, corresponding to the largest, 9279. But the mental powers that receive those three are called will, understanding, and factual knowledge from which springs the power of thought or imagination that the external or natural man possesses. The will is the recipient of the celestial, or good, and the understanding is the recipient of the spiritual, or truth from that good; and factual knowledge, which composes the level of understanding in the natural man, embodies the first two within itself. These three are meant in the Word by 'an embroiderer', 'a designer', and 'a weaver'. 'An embroiderer' or embroidery means factual knowledge, see, 9688, and 'a designer' or designing means the power of understanding, 9598, 9688, so that 'a weaver' means the power of will. The reason why 'a weaver' has this meaning is that the will flows into the understanding and weaves it, to such an extent that the contents of the understanding are weavings produced by the will. For what the will desires it fashions in such a way that it may appear to the sight in the understanding. This sight is thought (cogitatio), which is why 'a designer' (excogitator) means the power of understanding.

[3] Since Aaron's garments represented the spiritual heaven lying adjacent to the celestial kingdom, 9814, and the celestial kingdom corresponds to the human power of will and the spiritual kingdom to the human power of understanding, 9835, the terms 'work of an embroiderer', 'work of a designer', and 'work of a weaver' are used in special reference to those garments. These terms serve to mean the things that spring from factual knowledge, from the understanding, and from the will, or what amounts to the same thing, from the natural, from the spiritual, and from the celestial.

[4] That such things are meant becomes clear to all those who believe that the Word is Divine and that for this reason it contains inwardly descriptions of things which belong to the Lord, to heaven, and to the Church, since these subjects are Divine. Why else would Jehovah Himself declare who should make Aaron's garments and what kind of workmanship should be used? Why would He declare which ones should be the work of an embroiderer, which the work of a designer, and which the work of a weaver? These three are also mentioned specifically in the following words later on in the Book of Exodus,

These He has filled with wisdom of heart to do every work of a workman, and of a designer, and of an embroiderer in violet and in purple and in twice-dyed scarlet, and of a weaver - of those doing every work, of those who compose designs. ¹ Exodus 35:35.

'A workman' here means Divine Good that is celestial, which composes the power of will in one who has been regenerated, 9846. His work is mentioned first because [that kind of Good] springs directly from the Divine, and then indirectly from celestial good all things are born and emanate.

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