1920. 'Behold, your servant-girl is in your hand' means that this rational was conceived from the controlling power of the affection for truth allied to good. This is clear from the meaning of 'hand' as power, dealt with already in 878, and from the meaning of 'Hagar the Egyptian' as the affection for knowledge, also dealt with already. Following the conception of the rational by means of the internal man flowing into the life belonging to the exterior affection for knowledge, 'servant-girl' is used to mean that tender embryonic rational which however is represented, when born and developed, by Ishmael, who is the subject below. That the Lord had control over the rational residing with Him and that He subdued it by His own power will be clear from what is to be stated next.

5264. 'What God is doing He has pointed out to Pharaoh' means that the natural was allowed to discern what was provided. This is clear from the meaning of 'what God is doing' as what was provided, dealt with below; from the meaning of 'pointing out' as communicating and allowing one to discern, dealt with in 3608, 4856; and from the representation of 'Pharaoh' as the natural, dealt with above in 5263. From this it is evident that 'what God is doing He has pointed out to Pharaoh' means that the natural was allowed to discern what was provided.

[2] The reason why 'what God is doing' means what has been provided is that everything done by God, that is, by the Lord, constitutes His Providence. Every act of Providence is Divine, for it holds what is eternal and infinite within it. It holds what is eternal because its view is not limited by any beginning or end, and it holds what is infinite because its view comprehends simultaneously the entire whole within any specific part, and every specific part within the entire whole. All this is called 'Providence'; and because every single one of the Lord's acts holds what is eternal and infinite within it, no other expression than Providence exists to describe it. This truth that every single one of the Lord's acts holds what is infinite and eternal within it will in the Lord's Divine mercy be illustrated elsewhere with the help of examples.