IBhayibheli

 

Genesis 1:19

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19 And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.

Okususelwe Emisebenzini kaSwedenborg

 

Apocalypse Explained #527

Funda lesi Sigaba

  
Yiya esigabeni / 1232  
  

527. That the day should not shine for the third part of it, and the night likewise, signifies that the spiritual light of truth and the natural light of truth were completely extinguished. This is evident from the signification of "day," as being spiritual light, and from the signification of "night," as being natural light. This is the signification, since it was said above that "the third part of the sun, the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars, were darkened;" and "day" means the light of the sun, and "night" the light of the moon and stars, since the sun gives light during the day, and the moon and the stars give light at night. In the first place, let something be said respecting light from the sun, which is called the light of the day, and respecting light from the moon and the stars, which is called "the light of the night."

[2] By light from the sun, which is called "the light of the day" and by "day," spiritual light is meant, such as the angels have who see the Lord as a sun; and by light from the moon and stars, which is called "the light of the night" and by "night," natural light is meant, such as the angels have who behold the Lord as a moon. (That the Lord appears to the angels both as a sun and as a moon, see in the work on Heaven and Hell, 116-125.) Those heavens behold the Lord as a sun that are in the spiritual affection of truth, that is, that love truth because it is truth. Because this is spiritual, therefore the light that is from the Lord as a sun is spiritual. But those heavens behold the Lord as a moon that are in the natural affection of truth, that is, that love truth that they may be learned and may instruct others. These love truth because of its usefulness to themselves, and not for the truth's own sake; therefore they are in a light that proceeds from the Lord as a moon. This light differs from the light that goes forth from the Lord as a sun, as the light of day from the sun differs from the light of night from the moon and stars in our world; and in like manner as the lights differ with them do truths differ, since Divine truth proceeding from the Lord produces all light in the heavens (See in the work on Heaven and Hell 126-140).

[3] Those, therefore, who are in spiritual light are in genuine truths, and also when they hear truths that they had not before known, they immediately acknowledge them and see that they are truths. It is otherwise with those who are in natural light. When such hear truths they receive them, not because they see or perceive them, but because they are told them by men of reputation in whom they have confidence; the faith, therefore, of most of such is from others, and yet they are in a life according to faith. Into these heavens all come who have lived well, although they have been in falsities of doctrine; nevertheless the falsities are there continually purified, until at length they appear as truths. This makes evident what is signified by "that the day should not shine for the third part of it, and the night likewise." (That "the third part" signifies all, fullness, and wholly, see above, n. 506.)

[4] "Day and night" here have a similar signification as "day and night" in the first chapter of Genesis, where it is said:

God said, Let there be light; and there was light. And God saw the light that it was good; and God divided between the light and the darkness. And God called the light day, and the darkness He called night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day (Genesis 1:3-5).

And afterwards:

And God said, Let there be luminaries in the expanse of the heavens, to divide between the day and the night; and let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years. And God made two great luminaries; the great luminary to rule by day, and the lesser luminary to rule by night, and the stars. And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth, and to rule by day and by night, and to divide between the light and the darkness. And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day (Genesis 1:14-19).

The "light" that came the first day signifies the Divine light, that in itself and in its essence is Divine truth, thus spiritual light that enlightens the understanding. This chapter in the internal sense treats of the establishment of a church by the Lord with the most ancient people; and as the first thing is to have the understanding enlightened, for until that is enlightened by the Lord there is no reformation, thus no church with man, therefore first of all light is spoken of, or it is said that "light" was made on the first day. That "God saw the light that it was good" signifies that illustration and reception with them were good. But "darkness" signifies the lumen that is in the natural man, which is called natural lumen, because this lumen in comparison with spiritual light is like darkness, consequently this is meant by "darkness." For every man has a lower or exterior mind, and a higher or interior mind; the lower or exterior mind is the natural mind, which is called the natural man, while the higher or interior mind is the spiritual mind, and is called the spiritual man. The mind is called a man, for the reason that man is man because of his mind. These two minds, the higher and the lower, are altogether distinct; by the lower mind man is in the natural world, together with the men there, but by the higher mind he is in the spiritual world with the angels there.

These two minds are so distinct that while man is living in the world he does not know what is going on in himself in his higher mind; and when he becomes a spirit, as he does immediately after death, he does not know what is going on in his lower mind; therefore it is said "God divided between the light and the darkness, and He called the light day, and the darkness night." This makes evident that "day" signifies spiritual light, and "darkness" natural light. Because all the heavens are so divided that those who are in spiritual light are in light from the Lord as a sun, and those who are in spiritual-natural light are in light from the Lord as a moon (as was just said in this article), it is said, "Let there be two luminaries in the expanse of the heavens to divide between the day and the night, and to rule by day and by night, and to divide between the light and the darkness." From this, therefore, it is evident that "day" here means spiritual light, and "night" natural light, which in heaven is called spiritual-natural light.

[5] Day and night have a similar signification in the following passages. In David:

Jehovah who hath made the heavens by His intelligence, who hath spread out the earth above the waters; who hath made great luminaries, the sun for rule by day, the moon and stars for rule by night (Psalms 136:5-9).

In Jeremiah:

Jehovah giveth the sun for the light of the day, and the statutes of the moon and stars for the light of the night (Jeremiah 31:35).

In David:

Jehovah, the day is Thine, the night also is Thine; Thou hast prepared the light and the sun (Psalms 74:16).

In Jeremiah:

If ye have rendered void My covenant of the day and My covenant of the night, that there be no day and night in their time, My covenant also with David My servant shall become void, that he shall not have a son to reign upon his throne, and with the Levites the priests, My ministers. If I shall not have set 1 My covenant of day and night, the statutes of heaven and earth, then I reject also the seed of Jacob and David (Jeremiah 33:20, 21, 25, 26).

"The covenants of the day and of the night" mean all the statutes of the church prescribed unto the sons of Israel in the Word, by which they had conjunction with heaven and through heaven with the Lord. These are called "the covenant of the day and of the night," because they are for heaven and also for the church, the spiritual things that are represented and signified are for heaven, and the natural things that represent and signify are for the church; therefore "the covenants of the day and of the night" are here called "the statutes of heaven and earth," and "the covenant of the night" is called "the statutes of the moon and stars;" "to render void" signifies not to keep. That unless these are kept there could be no conjunction with the Lord through Divine truth or through Divine good is signified by "My covenant with David shall become void, that he shall not have a son to reign upon his throne, and with the Levites the priests, My ministers," "the covenant with David" meaning conjunction with the Lord through Divine truth; "no son upon his throne" signifying no reception of Divine truth by anyone, and "the covenant with the Levites the priests, My ministers," meaning conjunction with the Lord through Divine good.

[6] In David:

If I shall say, Surely the darkness shall overwhelm me, even the night shall be light for me. Even the darkness shall not make darkness before Thee; but the night shall be light as the day; as the darkness so shall be the light (Psalms 139:11, 12).

This signifies that the natural man as well as the spiritual is enlightened by the Lord. Natural light is signified by "darkness" and "night," and spiritual light by "light" and "day." "The night shall be light as the day, and as the darkness so shall be the light," has the same signification as in Isaiah:

The light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun (Isaiah 30:26).

These things have been cited to make known that spiritual light is signified by "the day should not shine for the third part of it," and natural light by "the night likewise;" thus that these expressions have a similar signification as "light from the sun and light from the moon. "

Imibhalo yaphansi:

1. Latin "shall have set," Hebrew "shall not have set," which we also find in 610, 768; Arcana Coelestia 37; Apocalypse Revealed 414.

  
Yiya esigabeni / 1232  
  

Thanks to the Swedenborg Foundation for their permission to use this translation.

Okususelwe Emisebenzini kaSwedenborg

 

Apocalypse Explained #148

Funda lesi Sigaba

  
Yiya esigabeni / 1232  
  

148. And upon the stone a new name written, which no one knoweth except he that receiveth, signifies a state of interior life unknown to all except those who are in it. This is evident from the signification of "name," as being the quality of state (of which see Arcana Coelestia (1754, 1896, 2009, 3237, 3421); here the quality of the state of the interior life, because it is said "a new name, which no one knoweth except he that receiveth," for the quality of the state of the interior life is wholly unknown to those who are not in the interior life. Those are in the interior life who are in love to the Lord, and none are in love to the Lord except those who acknowledge the Divine in His Human (that to love the Lord is to live according to His precepts, see Arcana Coelestia 10143, 10153, 10578, 10645, 10829). Interior life is the spiritual life, in which the angels of heaven are; but the exterior life is the natural life, in which are all who are not in heaven. With those, moreover, who live according to the precepts of the Lord and acknowledge the Divine in His Human, the interior mind is opened, and man then becomes spiritual; but those who do not so live, and do not acknowledge the Lord, remain natural. (That to all who are not in heavenly love the state of the interior or spiritual life is unknown, see in the work on Heaven and Hell 395-414; and in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 105, 238.)

[2] That "name" in the Word signifies quality of state is evident from many passages there, some of which I will here cite in confirmation. Thus in Isaiah:

Lift up your eyes on high and see; who hath created these? He that leadeth out the host in number; that calleth them all by name (Isaiah 40:26).

"His calling them all by name" is knowing the quality of all, and giving to them according to the state of love and faith with them. In John the meaning is similar:

He that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the porter openeth, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out (John 10:2-3).

In Isaiah:

Thus saith Jehovah thy Creator, O Jacob, and thy Former, O Israel, Fear not; for I have redeemed thee, and have called thee by name; thou art Mine (Isaiah 43:1).

In the same:

That thou mayest know that I am Jehovah, who had called thee by thy name. For Jacob My servant's sake, and Israel My chosen, I have called thee by thy name, when thou didst not know Me (Isaiah 45:3-4).

"I have called thee by thy name" means that He knew the quality of the state of the church; for "Jacob" and "Israel" are the church, "Jacob" the external church, and "Israel" the internal.

[3] In the same:

Israel, if thou hadst hearkened to My commandments, his name should not have been cut off nor destroyed from before Me (Isaiah 48:18-19).

"The name being cut off and destroyed from before Jehovah" denotes the quality of the state by which conjunction is effected, which state is the spiritual state of him who is of the church signified by "Israel." Again in the same prophet:

Jehovah hath called me from the womb, from the bowels of my mother doth He make mention of my name (Isaiah 49:1).

here "making mention of the name" is knowing the quality. In the same:

For Zion's sake I will not be still, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not be quiet. And the nations shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory; and thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of Jehovah shall utter (Isaiah 62:1, 2).

In the same:

He shall call His servants by another name (Isaiah 65:15).

"To call by a new name," and "by another name," is to bestow another state of life, namely, a state of spiritual life. In Ezekiel:

The city of bloods, polluted by name (Ezekiel 22:2, 5).

"The city of bloods" is the doctrine that offers violence to the good of charity; this is said to be "polluted by name" when it abounds with falsities and evils therefrom, which constitute its quality.

[4] In Moses:

Moses said unto Jehovah, Thou hast said, I know thee by thy name. And Jehovah said unto Moses, This word also that thou hast spoken I will do, for I know thee by name (Exodus 33:12, 17).

"His knowing Moses by name" is knowing his quality. In Revelation:

Thou hast a few names in Sardis which have not defiled their garments. He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white garments, and I will confess his name before My Father. He that overcometh, I will write upon him the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, and My new name (Revelation 3:4, 5, 12).

It can be seen that "name" here signifies the quality of state in respect to the good of love and the truth of faith. In another place:

Whose names have not been written in the book of life (Revelation 13:8; 17:8).

"Names written in the book of life" are the quality of all things of man's love and faith, the all things of his spiritual life. In another place:

They shall see the face of God and the Lamb, and His name shall be in their forehead (Revelation 22:4).

"His name in their forehead" is a state of love, for "forehead" corresponds to love, and therefore signifies love.

[5] "Name" in the Word signifies the quality of man's state, because in the spiritual world each one is named according to the state of life in which he is, thus variously; for spiritual speech is not like human speech; all things there are expressed according to ideas of things and of persons; and these ideas fall into words. (This can be seen more clearly from what is shown on The Speech of the Angels in Heaven, in the work on Heaven and Hell 234-245; also see above, n. 102, 135, where it is shown what "the name of Jehovah," "of the Lord," and "of Jesus Christ" signify in the Word.)

  
Yiya esigabeni / 1232  
  

Thanks to the Swedenborg Foundation for their permission to use this translation.