Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg
Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host [the army] of them. And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made. (Genesis 2:1-3)• Man is now rendered so far spiritual as to have become the "sixth day"
• "heaven" is his internal man, and "earth" his external
• "the army of them" are love, faith, and the knowledges thereof, which were previously signified by the great luminaries and the stars
That the internal man is called "heaven" and the external "earth" is evident from the passages of the Word from Isaiah:
I will make a man more rare than solid gold, even a man than the precious gold of Ophir; therefore I will smite the heavens with terror, and the earth shall be shaken out of its place (Isa. 13:12-13).
Thou forgettest Jehovah thy Maker, that stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundations of the earth; but I will put My words in thy mouth, and I will hide thee in the shadow of My hand, that I may stretch out the heaven, and lay the foundation of the earth (Isa. 51:13, 16).From these words it is evident that both "heaven" and "earth" are predicated of Man; for although they refer primarily to the Most Ancient Church, yet the interiors of the Word are of such a nature that whatever is said of the church may also be said of every individual member of it, who, unless he were a church, could not possibly be a part of the church, just as he who is not a temple of the Lord cannot be what is signified by the temple, namely, the church and heaven. It is for this reason that the Most Ancient Church is called "Man" in the singular number.
WHEN THE CELESTIAL PRINCIPLE, AND NOT THE SPIRITUAL, BEGINS TO BE THE PRINCIPAL
The "heavens and the earth and all the army of them" are said to be "finished" when man has become the "sixth day" for then faith and love make a one. When they do this, love, and not faith, or in other words the celestial principle, and not the spiritual, begins to be the principal, and this is to be a celestial man.
GOD BLESSED THE SEVENTH DAY, AND HALLOWED IT
God blessed the seventh day, and hallowed it; because that in it He rested from all His work which God in making created.
The celestial man is the "seventh day" which, as the Lord has worked during the six days, is called "His work;" and as all combat then ceases, the Lord is said to "rest from all His work."
THE SABBATH
On this account the seventh day was sanctified, and called the Sabbath, from a Hebrew word meaning "rest." And thus was Man created, formed, and made.
That the celestial man is the "seventh day" and that the seventh day was therefore hallowed, and called the Sabbath, are arcana which have not hitherto been discovered. For none have been acquainted with the nature of the celestial man, and few with that of the spiritual man, whom in consequence of this ignorance they have made to be the same as the celestial man, notwithstanding the great difference that exists between them.
As regards the seventh day, and as regards the celestial man being the "seventh day" or "Sabbath" this is evident from the fact that the Lord Himself is the Sabbath; and therefore He says:
The Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath (Mark 2:27)which words imply that the Lord is Man himself, and the Sabbath itself. His kingdom in the heavens and on the earth is called, from Him, a Sabbath, or eternal peace and rest.
THE MOST ANCIENT CHURCH WAS THE SABBATH OF THE LORD
The Most Ancient Church, which is here treated of, was the Sabbath of the Lord above all that succeeded it.
Every subsequent inmost church of the Lord is also a Sabbath; and so is every regenerate person when he becomes celestial, because he is a likeness of the Lord.
The six days of combat or labor precede.
These things were represented in the Jewish church by the days of labor, and by the seventh day, which was the Sabbath; for in that church there was nothing instituted which was not representative of the Lord and of His kingdom. The like was also represented by the ark when it went forward, and when it rested, for by its journeyings in the wilderness were represented combats and temptations, and by its rest a state of peace; and therefore, when it set forward, Moses said:
Rise up, Jehovah, and let Thine enemies be scattered, and let them that hate Thee flee before Thy faces. And when it rested, he said, Return, Jehovah, unto the ten thousands of the thousands of Israel (Num. 10:35-36).It is there said of the ark that it went from the Mount of Jehovah "to search out a rest for them" (Num. 10:33).
The rest of the celestial man is described by the Sabbath in Isaiah:
If thou bring back thy foot from the Sabbath, so that thou doest not thy desire in the day of My holiness, and callest the things of the Sabbath delights to the holy of Jehovah, honorable; and shalt honor it, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own desire, nor speaking a word; then shalt thou be delightful to Jehovah, and I will cause thee to be borne over the lofty things of the earth, and will feed thee with the heritage of Jacob (Isa. 58:13-14).Such is the quality of the celestial man that he acts not according to his own desire, but according to the good pleasure of the Lord, which is his "desire." Thus he enjoys internal peace and happiness — here expressed by "being uplifted over the lofty things of the earth" — and at the same time external tranquility and delight, which is signified by "being fed with the heritage of Jacob."
When the spiritual man, who has become the "sixth day" is beginning to be celestial, which state is here first treated of, it is the "eve of the Sabbath" represented in the Jewish Church by the keeping holy of the Sabbath from the evening. The celestial man is the "morning" to be spoken of presently.
COMBAT CEASES WHEN HE BECOMES CELESTIAL
Another reason why the celestial man is the "Sabbath" or "rest" is that combat ceases when he becomes celestial. The evil spirits retire, and good ones approach, as well as celestial angels; and when these are present, evil spirits cannot possibly remain, but flee far away. And since it was not the man himself who carried on the combat, but the Lord alone for the man, it is said that the Lord "rested."
WHEN THE SPIRITUAL MAN BECOMES CELESTIAL
When the spiritual man becomes celestial, he is called the "work of God" because the Lord alone has fought for him, and has created, formed, and made him; and therefore it is here said, "God finished His work on the seventh day;" and twice, that "He rested from all His work."
By the Prophets man is repeatedly called the "work of the hands and of the fingers of Jehovah;" as in Isaiah, speaking of the regenerate man:
Thus hath said Jehovah the Holy One of Israel, and his Former, Seek ye signs of Me, signs concerning My sons, and concerning the work of My hands command ye Me. I have made the earth, and created man upon it; I, even My hands have stretched out the heavens, and all their army have I commanded. For thus hath said Jehovah that createth the heavens, God Himself that formeth the earth and maketh it; He establisheth it, He created it not a void, He formed it to be inhabited; I am Jehovah and there is no God else besides Me (Isa. 45:11-12, 18, 21).
THE WORK OF THE LORD ALONE
Hence it is evident that the new creation, or regeneration, is the work of the Lord alone. The expressions to "create" to "form" and to "make" are employed quite distinctively, both in the above passage — "creating the heavens, forming the earth, and making it" — and in other places in the same Prophet, as:
Everyone that is called by My name, I have created him for My glory, I have formed him, yea, I have made him (Isa. 43:7),and also Genesis chapters one and two: "He rested from all His work which God in making created."
In the internal sense this usage always conveys a distinct idea; and the case is the same where the Lord is called "Creator" "Former" or "Maker."
(from Arcana Coelestia 83 - 88)