7779. From the firstborn of Pharaoh about to sit upon his throne. That this signifies the falsified truths of faith which are in the first place, is evident from the signification of “the firstborn,” as being faith (see n. 352, 2435, 6344, 7035); from the representation of Pharaoh, as being memory-knowledge in general perverting the truths of the church (n. 6015, 6651, 6679, 6683, 6692), thus “the firstborn of Pharaoh” denotes the faith of such, consequently the faith of the falsified truths of faith; and from the signification of “throne,” as being the reign of truth, and in the opposite sense, the reign of falsity (see n. 5313). That the falsified truths of faith which are in the first place are meant by “the firstborn of Pharaoh about to sit upon his throne” is evident from the fact that it is said “even to the firstborn of the maidservant that is behind the millstones,” by which are signified the falsified truths of faith which are in the last place; and moreover, the son of a king is what comes first, because a king is the head.

[2] Falsified truths in the first place are those which are acknowledged as essentials, such as these: that faith saves howsoever a man has lived; that it saves man in the last hour of his life; and that he then is pure from sins; thus that sins are wiped away in a moment, like the uncleanness of the hands by water; which insist that there is faith without charity, and that in respect to man’s salvation the life effects nothing, also that a man-devil can in a moment be made an angel of God. Such and the like are falsified truths in the first place. Those which are thence next derived are in the second place. Those which are remotely derived are in the last place. For the derivations of every truth are ample, and in a long series, some of which enter directly, some indirectly; those which only touch being the last.

[3] That such and the like are falsified truths of faith, is very evident; for who does not know, if he thinks justly, that the life of faith causes a man to be spiritual, but not faith except insofar as it has been implanted in the life. The life of man is his love, and that which he loves he wills and intends, and that which he wills and intends, he does. This is the being of man, but not that which he knows and thinks and does not will. This being of man cannot in any wise be changed into another being by thinking about mediation and salvation; but by regeneration anew, which is being effected during a great part of his life; for he must be conceived, born, and grown up anew; and this is not effected by thinking and speaking, but by willing and acting.

[4] These things are said because by the “firstborn of Pharaoh,” and the “firstborn of the Egyptians,” is signified faith separated from charity, which has been shown in what precedes not to be faith, but the memory-knowledge of such things as are of faith. The firstborn of the Egyptians represented this faith because the Egyptians were versed in the knowledge of rituals of the church above the rest who constituted the representative church after the time of the flood (see n. 4749, 4964, 4966, 6004). At that time all rites were representative of the spiritual things which are in heaven. The Egyptians had more knowledge of these things than others, but in process of time they began to love the knowledges alone, and then, in like manner as is done at this day, to make everything of the church consist in the knowledge of such things as are of the church, and no longer in the life of charity. Thus they inverted the whole order of the church, which being inverted, the truths which are called truths of faith could not but be falsified; for the truths which are applied contrary to Divine order (as is the case when they are applied to evils, and among the Egyptians to magic) are no longer truths with them, but become falsities from the evils to which they are applied.

[5] To illustrate this by the worship of a calf among the Egyptians. They knew what a calf represented, namely, the good of charity; so long as they knew this and thought this, when they saw calves, or when they prepared calves in feasts of charity such as the ancients held, and afterward when calves were applied in sacrifices, they then thought sanely and together with the angels in heaven, to whom a calf is the good of charity. But when they began to make calves of gold, and to place them in their temples and worship them, they then thought insanely and together with the infernals; and in this way they inverted a true representative into a false representative.

3913. And she said, Behold my maidservant Bilhah. That this signifies the affirming means which there is between natural truth and interior truth, is evident from the signification of a “maidservant” and also of a “handmaid” as being the affection of the knowledges that belong to the exterior man (n. 1895, 2567, 3835, 3849); and because this affection is the means for conjoining interior truths with natural or external truths, by “handmaid” is here signified the affirming means between them: and from the representation of Bilhah, as being the quality of this means. By the handmaids given to Jacob by Rachel and Leah for women to the intent that they might bring forth offspring, nothing else was represented and signified in the internal sense, than such a thing as is of service; here, for a means of the conjunction of interior truth with external truth; for by Rachel is represented interior truth, and by Leah external truth (n. 3793, 3819). For by the twelve sons of Jacob are here described the twelve general or cardinal things by means of which while being regenerated or made a church, man is initiated into what is spiritual and celestial. For when a man is being regenerated, or made a church (that is, when from a dead man he is becoming alive, or from corporeal heavenly), he is led by the Lord through many states. These general states are what are designated by the “twelve sons,” and afterwards by the “twelve tribes;” for which reason the “twelve tribes” signify all things of faith and love, as may be seen above (n. 3858); for generals involve all the particulars and singulars, and these latter bear relation to the former.

[2] When a man is being regenerated, the internal man is to be conjoined with the external, consequently the goods and truths of the internal man with the goods and truths of the external; for from truths and goods man is man. These cannot be conjoined without means. Means are such things as derive something from the one side, and something from the other, and which are attended with the effect that insofar as the man accedes to the one, the other becomes subordinate. These means are what are signified by the “handmaids,” the means on the part of the internal man by the handmaids of Rachel; and the means on the part of the external man by the handmaids of Leah.

[3] That there must be means of conjunction may be seen from the fact that of itself the natural man does not in the least agree with the spiritual man, but disagrees so far as to be altogether opposite. For the natural man regards and loves himself and the world; but the spiritual man does not regard himself and the world, except insofar as is conducive to the promotion of uses in the spiritual world; and thus regards its service and loves it from the use and end. The natural man seems to himself to have life when he is elevated to dignities, and thus to supereminence over others; but the spiritual man seems to himself to have life in humility, and in being the least.

Nor does he disregard dignities, provided that by them as means he can be of service to his neighbor, to the community, and to the church. Yet he does not reflect for the sake of himself upon the dignities to which he is elevated, but for the sake of the uses which he regards as the ends. The natural man is in his bliss when he is richer than others, and possesses the world’s wealth; but the spiritual man is in his bliss when he is in the knowledges of truth and good, which are his riches; and still more when he is in the practice of good according to truths; and yet he does not despise riches, because by means of them he can be in that practice, and in the world.

[4] From these few considerations it is evident that the state of the natural man and that of the spiritual man are opposed to each other by their ends; but that nevertheless they can be conjoined, which takes place when the things of the external man are made subordinate and subservient to the ends of the internal man. In order therefore that a man may become spiritual, it is necessary for the things of the external man to be reduced to compliance; thus that the ends in favor of self and the world be put off; and ends in favor of the neighbor and the Lord’s kingdom be put on. The former can by no means be put off and the latter put on, and thus the two be conjoined, except through means. These means are what are signified by the “handmaids,” and in particular by the “four sons” born of the handmaids.

[5] The first means is one that affirms or is affirmative of internal truth-that it is so. When this affirmative comes, the man is in the beginning of regeneration; good is being worked by the internal, and causes the affirmation. This good cannot inflow into what is negative, nor even into what is full of doubt, until this becomes affirmative. But afterwards it manifests itself by affection, that is, by the man’s being affected with truth, or beginning to be delighted with it; first in knowing it, and then in acting according to it. Take, for example, the truth that the Lord is the salvation for the human race. Unless this is made affirmative by the man, all the things he has learned from the Word or in the church concerning the Lord, and that are in his natural memory among the memory-knowledges, cannot be conjoined with his internal man, that is, with what can be there of faith. Thus neither can affection flow in, not even into the generals of that truth which are conducive to man’s salvation. But when it becomes affirmative, innumerable things are added, and are filled with the good that flows in; for good continually flows in from the Lord, but where there is no affirmative, it is not received. An affirmative is therefore the first means, and is as it were the first abode of the good that flows in from the Lord. The same is the case with all the other truths that are called truths of faith.