Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg
Genesis chapter two treats of the celestial man, as the preceding chapter did of the spiritual, who was formed out of a dead man.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.
THE CELESTIAL MAN IS THE "SEVENTH DAY"
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." 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.
• 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."
• 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.
"CREATING THE HEAVENS, FORMING THE EARTH, AND MAKING IT"
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 in both the preceding and this chapter of Genesis; as in the passage before us: "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."
THE FORMATIONS OF THE CELESTIAL MAN
These are the nativities of the heavens and of the earth, when He created them, in the day in which Jehovah God made the earth and the heavens. (Genesis 2:4)The "nativities of the heavens and of the earth" are the formations of the celestial man.
That his formation is here treated of is very evident from all the particulars which follow —
• No herb was as yet growing
• There was no man to till the ground
• Jehovah God formed man,
and afterwards
• He made every beast and bird of the heavens
Notwithstanding that the formation of these had been treated of in the foregoing chapter, from all which it is manifest that another man is here treated of.
This however is still more evident from the fact, that —
• Now for the first time the Lord is called "Jehovah God" whereas in the preceding passages, which treat of the spiritual man, He is called simply "God;"
• Now "ground" and "field" are mentioned, while in the preceding passages only "earth" is mentioned.
In this verse also "heaven" is first mentioned before "earth" and afterwards "earth" before "heaven;" the reason of which is that "earth" signifies the external man, and "heaven" the internal
• In the spiritual man reformation begins from "earth" that is, from the external man
• In the celestial man, who is here treated of, it begins from the internal man, or from "heaven."
And there was no shrub of the field as yet in the earth, and there was no herb of the field as yet growing, because Jehovah God had not caused it to rain upon the earth; and there was no man to till the ground. And He made a mist to ascend from the earth, and watered all the faces of the ground. (Genesis 2:5, 6)By the "shrub of the field" and the "herb of the field" are meant in general all that his external man produces. The external man is called "earth" while he remains spiritual, but "ground" and also "field" when he becomes celestial. "Rain" which is soon after called "mist" is the tranquility of peace when combat ceases.
MAN'S STATE IS WHILE FROM BEING SPIRITUAL HE IS BECOMING CELESTIAL
But what these things involve cannot possibly be perceived unless it is known what man's state is while from being spiritual he is becoming celestial, for they are deeply hidden.
• While he is spiritual, the external man is not yet willing to yield obedience to and serve the internal, and therefore there is a combat
• When he becomes celestial, then the external man begins to obey and serve the internal, and therefore the combat ceases, and tranquility ensues.
This tranquility is signified by "rain" and "mist" for it is like a vapor with which the external man is watered and bedewed from the internal; and it is this tranquility, the offspring of peace, which produces what are called the "shrub of the field" and the "herb of the field" which, specifically, are things of the rational mind and of the memory [rationalia et scientifica] from a celestial spiritual origin.
The nature of the tranquility of peace of the external man, on the cessation of combat, or of the unrest caused by cupidities and falsities, can be known only to those who are acquainted with a state of peace. This state is so delightful that it surpasses every idea of delight:
It is not only a cessation of combat, but is life proceeding from interior peace, and affecting the external man in such a manner as cannot be described;The state of the celestial man, thus gifted with the tranquility of peace — refreshed by the rain — and delivered from the slavery of what is evil and false, is thus described by the Lord in Ezekiel:
The truths of faith, and the goods of love, which derive their life from the delight of peace, are then born.
I will make with them a covenant of peace, and will cause the evil wild beast to cease out of the land, and they shall dwell confidently in the wilderness, and sleep in the woods; and I will make them and the places round about My hill a blessing; and I will cause the rain to come down in his season; rains of blessing shall they be. And the tree of the field shall yield its fruit, and the earth shall yield its increase, and they shall be upon their ground in confidence, and shall know that I am Jehovah, when I have broken the reins of their yoke, and delivered them out of the hand of those that make them to serve them; and ye My flock, the flock of My pasture, ye are a man, and I am your God (Ezek. 34:25-27, 31).And that this is effected on the "third day" which in the Word signifies the same as the "seventh" is thus declared in Hosea:
After two days will He vivify us; in the third day He will raise us up, and we shall live before Him and we shall know, and shall follow on to know Jehovah: His going forth is prepared as the dawn, and He shall come unto us as the rain, as the late rain watering the earth (Hos. 6:2-3).And that this state is compared to the "growth of the field" is declared by Ezekiel, when speaking of the Ancient Church:
I have caused thee to multiply as the growth of the field, and thou hast increased and hast grown up, and hast come to excellent ornaments (Ezek. 16:7).And it is also compared to:
A shoot of the Lord's planting, and a work of the hands of Jehovah God (Isa. 60:21)
(Extracts from Arcana Coelestia 81 - 93)