Page:Arcana Coelestia (Potts) vol 1.djvu/26

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In Haggai, speaking of a new church:—

And concerning man in the process of regeneration, in Zechariah:—

David also, describing a vastated man who is to be regenerated and who will worship the Lord:—

That the "earth" signifies a recipient, appears from Zechariah:—

. Verses 11, 12. ''And God said, Let the earth bring forth the tender herb, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit-tree bearing fruit after its kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth; and it was so. And the earth brought forth the tender herb, the herb yielding seed after its kind, and the tree bearing fruit, whose seed was in itself, after its kind; and God saw that it was good.'' When the "earth," or man, has been thus prepared to receive celestial seeds from the Lord, and to produce something of what is good and true, then the Lord first causes some tender thing to spring forth, which is called the "tender herb;" then something more useful, which again bears seed in itself, and is called the "herb yielding seed;" and at length something good which becomes fruitful, and is called the "tree bearing fruit, whose seed is in itself," each according to its own kind. The man who is being regenerated is at first of such a quality that he supposes the good which he does, and the truth which