7007. 'And will teach you the things you will do' means that the Divine will therefore be within every single thing that is going to happen. This is clear from the meaning of 'teaching' as flowing in, and when it is used as it is here in reference to the Divine, as going forth, as above in 6999; and from the meaning of 'the things you will do' as things that are going to happen. Every single one is meant because what is said refers to the Divine. Something must be said here about what is meant by the Divine within every single thing that happens in a person's life. To man this seems to be altogether untrue, because he thinks that if the Divine were present in every single thing that happens no evil deeds would be done and no one would be damned either, and also that justice would always prevail, the upright would prosper in the world rather than those who are not upright, and many other conditions like these. But because they see the opposite of such conditions they do not believe that the Divine is in every single thing. As a consequence they attribute matters of a specific nature to themselves and their own prudence, and merely general, overall control to the Divine, calling everything else fortune and chance, which to them are blind natural forces.

[2] But a person thinks in that kind of way because he has no knowledge of the arcana of heaven, which are that the Lord leaves each person in freedom, for unless a person is in freedom he cannot be reformed at all. What a person does under compulsion does not reform him because compulsion does not allow anything to take root; for anything a person does under compulsion is not an act of willing, whereas what he does in freedom is an act of willing. What is good and true, if it is to be present in a person as his own, must take root in his will. What is outside the will is not the person's own. And since everyone is for that reason left in freedom people are allowed to think what is evil and, so far as outward fears do not hold them back, to do what is evil; and - since everyone is in freedom - those who are not upright rejoice and glory in the world seemingly more than those who are upright. But the glorying and rejoicing of those who are not upright is external or of the body and in the next life it is turned into hellish misery, whereas the glorying and rejoicing of those who are upright, being internal or of the spirit, remains and becomes heavenly bliss.

[3] Furthermore high rank and wealth bring worldly but not eternal happiness. This being so, that happiness may be experienced both by those who are not upright and by those who are upright; and if the upright are denied it, it is in order that such things may not divert them from what is good. And since a person thinks that Divine blessings consist in worldly kinds of goodness and bliss, his weakness leads him into errors about God's providence when He sees the opposite taking place. He also draws conclusions from present circumstances as he sees them. He gives no thought to the idea that Divine Providence has what is eternal in view, working especially to bring all things into a state of order in heaven, and also in hell, and so to ensure that heaven will unceasingly resemble a single human being, hell will exist opposite it, and equilibrium will therefore result. He gives no thought to the idea that these things cannot be brought about at all except by means of Divine providence at work in the most specific details of all, thus unless the Divine is constantly governing and directing people's freedom.

[4] For anything further on the subject see what has been stated and shown already regarding Divine providence:

The Lord's providence cannot be overall unless it is present in the most specific details, 1919 (end), 4319, 5122 (end), 5894 (end), 6481-6486, 6490.

The Lord's providence has in view what is eternal, 5264, 6490.

The Lord foresees what is evil and makes provision for what is good, 5155, 5195, 6489.

The Lord turns evil that He foresees into good, 6574.

Things that happen by chance are all part of providence, 5508, 6493, 6494.

One's own prudence is like dust thinly distributed in the air, while providence is, like the entire atmosphere, 6485.

Quite a number of mistaken ideas deny the presence of Divine providence in specific details, 6481.

3398. 'One of the people might easily have lain with your wife, and you would have brought guilt on us' means that it could have been adulterated and so profaned. This is clear from the meaning of 'lying wish' as being perverted or adulterated; from the meaning of 'one of the people' as one who belongs to the Church, that is to say, to the spiritual Church, dealt with in 2928; from the meaning of 'wife' - who is Rebekah here - as Divine Truth, dealt with above; and from the meaning of 'guilt' as blame for the profanation of truth. From this it is evident that 'one of the people might easily have lain with your wife, and you would have brought guilt on us' means that Divine Truth could easily have been adulterated by someone within the Church and so he would have made himself culpable of the profanation of truth. It has been stated above in 3386 that the reason why Abraham on two occasions spoke of Sarah his wife as his sister - first of all in Egypt, and then, when dwelling with Abimelech, in Gerar - and why Isaac in a similar way spoke of Rebekah his wife as his sister, when he too was dwelling with Abimelech, and why those three occasions are mentioned in the Word, is a very deep arcanum. The actual arcanum contained in these words is evident in the internal sense, and it is this: 'A sister' means rational truth, and 'a wife' Divine Truth; and rational truth is called this - that is, 'a sister' - to prevent Divine Truth, which is 'a wife' (Rebekah in this case) from being adulterated and so perverted.

[2] With regard to the profanation of truth the position is that Divine Truth cannot possibly be profaned except by those who have already acknowledged it. For these people have first of all, through acknowledgement and faith, come to the truth, and so have been introduced into it. If after this they depart from that truth there remains within them a permanent imprint of it, which is recalled together with falsity and evil whenever these are recalled. And being attached to falsity and evil that truth is consequently made profane. People therefore with whom this happens have within them permanently that which is condemning, and so the hell which is their own. Indeed when those in hell draw near a sphere where good and truth are present they instantly experience their own hell, for they run into that which they hate, and as a consequence into torment. People therefore who have profaned truth dwell permanently with that which torments them - the intensity of torment depending on the degree of profanation. This being so, the Lord makes the greatest provision to prevent Divine Good and Truth being made profane. He does so especially with anyone who is such that he cannot help profaning them, by keeping him as far back as possible from acknowledgement of and faith in truth and good. For as has been stated, no one is able to profane them except him who has already acknowledged and come to believe them.

[3] This was the reason why internal truths were not disclosed to the descendants of Jacob - to the Israelites and Jews. Not even the existence of anything internal within man, nor thus any kind of internal worship was openly declared to them, and scarcely anything about life after death, or about the heavenly kingdom of the Lord or the Messiah whom they awaited. The reason why these truths were not declared was, as foreseen, that if they had been disclosed to them, the Jews and Israelites were such as could not help profaning them; for they had no desire for anything other than what was earthly. And because those descendants were such, and are so still, they are still allowed to remain without any belief at all in internal truths. For if at one point they had given their assent to them and then had withdrawn it they would inevitably have ended up in the worst hell of all.

[4] This was also the reason why the Lord did not come into the world and reveal the internal features of the Word until the time when no good at all, not even natural good, remained with them. For at that point they were no longer capable of receiving any truth and acknowledging it internally - for good is what receives - and so were no longer capable of profaning it. It is this state that is meant by the fulness of time, and by the close of the age, and also by the last day, spoken of many times in the Prophets.

[5] It is for the same reason also that at the present time the arcana belonging to the internal sense of the Word are being revealed, for today scarcely any faith exists because charity is non-existent, so that the close of the age is here. When these conditions prevail these arcana can be revealed without any risk of profanation since they are not acknowledged interiorly. It is for the sake of this arcanum that in the Word mention is made of Abraham and of Isaac, of how, when dwelling in Gerar with Abimelech, each called his wife his sister. See in addition what has been stated and shown already on the same subject, to the effect that those who acknowledge are able to profane, but not those who do not acknowledge, still less those who do not even know, 593, 1008, 1010, 1059. How much danger lies in profaning sacred things and the Word, see 571, 582. People inside the Church are able to profane sacred things, but not those outside, 2051. The Lord provides against the occurrence of profanation, 1001, 2426. Worship may become external to prevent the profaning of internal worship, 1327, 1328. People are kept in ignorance to prevent the truths of faith being made profane, 301-303.