2077. That 'Abraham said to God' means the Lord's perception from love is clear from the meaning of 'saying to God' as perceiving, dealt with quite often already. That 'Abraham' here means the Lord when passing through that state and that age has been stated above in 1989. The Lord, it is evident, uttered this out of love, for the actual words used, 'O that Ishmael might live before You!' are an expression of an affection originating in love. The Lord's affection or love was Divine; that is to say, it was directed towards the whole human race which He desired, through the union of His Human Essence with the Divine Essence, to join completely to Himself and save eternally. Concerning that love see Volume One, in 1735; concerning the fact that the Lord out of this love contended constantly with the hells, 1690, 1789, 1812; and concerning the fact that in the union of His Human with the Divine His sole regard was nothing other than the conjunction of the Divine with the human race, 2034 above.

[2] The nature of the Lord's love surpasses all human understanding and is unbelievable in the extreme to people who do not know what heavenly love is in which angels abide. To save a soul from hell the angels think nothing of giving their own lives; indeed if it were possible they would suffer hell themselves in place of that soul. Consequently their inmost joy is to transport into heaven someone rising from the dead. They confess however that that love does not originate one little bit in themselves but that every single aspect of it does so in the Lord alone. Indeed they are incensed if anyone thinks anything different.

1989. That 'Abram' means the Lord in that state and at that age is clear from what has been stated already about Abram. In the internal sense Abram represents the Lord, for when mentioned in the Word no other Abram is meant in heaven. People who have been born inside the Church and have heard of him from the Word do indeed know of Abram when they enter the next life, but because he is no different from any other human being and cannot be of any help to them, they are no longer interested in him. Furthermore they are informed that in the Word 'Abram' has been used to mean no one other than the Lord. Indeed angels, who possess heavenly ideas but form no image of any man with them, know nothing at all about Abram. Consequently when the Word is read by man and Abram is mentioned they perceive no one other than the Lord. And in the statement made here they perceive the Lord passing through that state and that age, for here Jehovah is talking to Abram, that is, to the Lord.