8080. 'And all the firstborn of man among your sons you shall redeem, means that the truths of faith are not to be ascribed to the Lord, but forms of the good of faith. This is clear from the meaning of 'the firstborn' as faith, dealt with in 352, 2435, 6344, 7035, 8042; from the meaning of 'sons' as truths, dealt with in 489, 491, 533, 1147, 2623, 3373; and from the meaning of 'redeeming' as giving something else instead, as above in 8078, 8079. The fact that those truths of faith are not to be ascribed follows from the full message that is implied by these words, And all the firstborn of man among your sons you shall not make over, that is, you shall not sacrifice, but you shall redeem', 'not making over' being not ascribing, as above in 8074, 8078. From this it is evident that 'all the firstborn of man among your sons you shall redeem' means that the truths of faith are not to be ascribed to the Lord, but something else instead. Proof that this something else is the good of faith is provided by the consideration that generally 'the firstborn' means the good of faith, as above in 8042, 8043. But since it speaks here about 'the firstborn of man among his sons', the truth of faith is meant; for there is the truth of faith and there is the good of faith.

[2] Further proof that the good of faith, which is charity, is this something else which is to be ascribed to the Lord instead of the truths of faith is provided by the fact that the firstborn of the children of Israel were not accepted but the Levites instead; and the reason for this was that 'Levi' represented the good of faith, or charity, 3875, 4497, 4502, 4503. With regard to the acceptance of the tribe of Levi instead of all the firstborn, see Numbers 3:12-13, 40-end; 8:16-18. Even more proof that the good of faith is the something else to be ascribed to the Lord is provided by the consideration that faith without charity is not faith, 654, 724, 1162, 1176, 2231, 2343, 2349, 2429, 2839, 2982, 3146, 3325, 3849, 3865, 4368, 5351, 7039, 7082-7084, 7342 (end), 7950, and also by the consideration that the good of faith in actual fact occupies first place, while the truth of faith merely appears to do so, 3539, 3548, 3556, 3563, 3570, 3576, 3603, 3701, 4925, 4926, 4928, 4930, 4977, 5351, 6256, 6269, 6272, 6273, so that charity is the firstborn, 3325, 3494, 4925, 4926, 4928, 4930.

[3] The reason why the truth of faith regarded in itself without the good of faith is not to be ascribed to the Lord, that is, not to be given to Him or acknowledged to come from Him, is that no truth of faith has any life within it until it becomes the good of faith; and the truth of faith becomes the good of faith through the willing and doing of it, 7835. When therefore it becomes the good of faith it is acknowledged by the Lord as being His, for the Lord imparts faith indirectly through the good of faith. Every truth of faith too that a member of the spiritual Church possesses becomes the good of faith when he is regenerated. Not till then does it become the Lord's.

[4] The law regarding the redemption of the firstborn of man was laid down to prevent them from sacrificing their sons, a practice that had come into use among gentiles with whom statutes of the Ancient Church - which was a representative Church - remained in force, but in a form that had been completely adulterated in the course of time. The consecration of the firstborn to God was one of those statutes of the Ancient Church; but by consecration they began to understand sacrifice. The descendants of Jacob leaned likewise towards the same practice, and therefore that law of redemption was marked out for them. And to prevent them from following that practice the Levites were adopted instead of the firstborn, as has been stated. The law was marked out in keeping with its corresponding meaning in the spiritual world, which is that the truths of faith are not holy, thus that these are not to be consecrated or ascribed to the Lord but forms of the good of faith. Later on that consecration to Him was taken to mean that they were to give or present the firstborn to Jehovah, and to offer a sacrifice for him, as the following stated in Luke shows,

When the days of their purification according to the law of Moses were completed, they brought Jesus to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord (as it has been written in the Law of the Lord, that every male opening the womb should be called holy to the Lord) and to offer a sacrifice. Luke 2:22-24.

6255. Verses 10-14 And the eyes of Israel were weak ¹ because of old age; he could not see. And [Joseph] made them draw near him, and [Israel] kissed them and embraced them. And Israel said to Joseph, I did not think to see your face, and behold, God has caused me to see your seed also. And Joseph brought them away from his thighs and bowed down, his face to the earth. And Joseph took them both, Ephraim in his right hand to Israel's left, and Manasseh in his left to Israel's right, and made them draw near him. And Israel put out his right hand and placed it on Ephraim's head, who was the younger, and his left hand on Manasseh's head; crosswise he put out his hands, for Manasseh was the firstborn.

'And the eyes of Israel were weak' means his obscurity of discernment. 'Because of old age' means because he was in the final phase of his representation. 'He could not see means not noticing. 'And [Joseph] made them draw near him' means presence. 'And [Israel] kissed them' means a joining together resulting from an affection for truth. 'And embraced them' means a joining together resulting from an affection for good. 'And Israel said to Joseph' means a raising up to the internal. 'I did not think to see your face' means that he had not entertained any hope of an inflowing of his love. 'And behold, God has caused me to see your seed also' means that not only an inflow of love was discerned, but also the goodness and truth springing from it. 'And Joseph brought them away from his thighs' means that the good belonging to the will and the truth belonging to the understanding within the natural were brought away from an affection originating in love on the part of spiritual good. 'And bowed down, his face to the earth' means an expression of humility by them. 'And Joseph took them both, Ephraim in his right hand to Israel's left' means truth belonging to the understanding, to occupy the second place. 'And Manasseh in his left hand to Israel's right' means good belonging to the will, to occupy the first place. 'And made them draw near him' means a linking together. 'And Israel put out his right hand and placed it on Ephraim's head' means that he considered truth to occupy the first place. 'Who was the younger' means though in fact it occupies the second place. 'And his left hand on Manasseh's head' means that he considered good to occupy the second place. 'Crosswise he put out his hands' means thus out of keeping with true order. 'For Manasseh was the firstborn' means since good does indeed occupy the first place.

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