8080. And every firstborn of man among thy sons shalt thou redeem. That this signifies that the truths of faith are not to be ascribed to the Lord, but the goods of faith, is evident from the signification of the “firstborn,” as being faith (see n. 352, 2435, 6344, 7035, 8042); from the signification of “sons,” as being truths (n. 489, 491, 533, 1147, 2623, 3373); and from the signification of “redeeming,” as being to give something else in its place (as above, n. 8074, 8078). That it denotes that these are not to be ascribed, follows from the full meaning of these words: “and every firstborn of man among thy sons thou shalt not cause to pass over (that is, shalt not sacrifice), but shalt redeem.” “Not to cause to pass over” denotes not to ascribe (as above, n. 8074, 8078.) From all this it is evident that by “every firstborn of man among thy sons thou shalt redeem” is signified that the truths of faith are not to be ascribed to the Lord, but something else in their place; that this is the good of faith can be seen from the fact that by the “firstborn” in general is signified the good of faith (as above, n. 8042, 8043); but that when it is said “the firstborn of man among his sons” it denotes the truth of faith; for there is the truth of faith, and there is the good of faith.

[2] That the good of faith, or charity, is this something else which is to be ascribed to the Lord instead of the truths of faith, can also be seen from the fact that the firstborn of the sons of Israel were not accepted; but in their place the Levites, and this for the reason that by Leviticus was represented the good of faith, or charity (3875, 4497, 4502, 4503); that the tribe of Leviticus was accepted in place of all the firstborn, see Numbers 3:12-13, 40; 8:16-18. That the good of faith is this something else which is to be ascribed to the Lord, can also be seen from the fact that faith is not faith without charity (n. 654, 724, 1162, 1176, 2231, 2343, 2349, 2429, 2839, 2982, 3146, 3325, 3849, 3865, 4368, 5351, 7039, 7082-7084, 7342, 7950); and also from the fact that the good of faith is actually in the first place, but the truth of faith only apparently so (n. 3539, 3548, 3556, 3563, 3570, 3576, 3603, 3701, 4925, 4926, 4928, 4930, 4977, 5351, 6256, 6269, 6272, 6273); thus that charity is the firstborn (n. 3325, 3494, 4925, 4926, 4928, 4930).

[3] That regarded in itself the truth of faith without its good is not to be ascribed to the Lord, that is, given to Him, or acknowledged to be from Him, is because no truth of faith has any life in it until it becomes the good of faith; and the truth of faith becomes the good of faith by willing it and doing it (n. 7835). When therefore it becomes the good of faith, then it is acknowledged by the Lord as being His, for the Lord gives faith mediately through its good. Moreover with the man of the spiritual church all the truth of faith becomes the good of faith when he is being regenerated, and then for the first time it becomes the Lord’s.

[4] The law concerning the redemption of the firstborn of man was delivered to the end that they should not sacrifice their sons, which came into use among the nations with whom there remained the statutes of the Ancient Church, which was a representative church, but which in course of time were wholly adulterated. That the firstborn were to be sanctified to God was one of the statutes of the Ancient Church; but by “sanctifying” they began to understand sacrificing. The descendants of Jacob also inclined to do likewise; and therefore this law was unfolded before them; and to prevent their doing this the Levites were accepted in place of the firstborn, as has been said. In the spiritual world this law was unfolded according to its correspondent sense, which is that the truths of faith are not holy, thus are not to be sanctified or ascribed; but the goods of faith. Moreover sanctification was afterward understood in this manner-that they should give or present the firstborn to Jehovah, and offer a sacrifice for him, according to these words in Luke:

When the days of their purification according to the law of Moses were fulfilled, they brought Jesus up to Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord. As it was written in the law of the Lord, that every male that openeth the womb shall be called holy to the Lord, and to offer a sacrifice (Luke 2:22-24).

3701. And behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it. That this signifies infinite and eternal communication and the consequent conjunction; and that from what is lowest there is as it were an ascent, and afterwards when the order is inverted a descent; is evident from the signification of “angels,” as being something Divine of the Lord, which is meant by them when they are mentioned in the Word (see n. 1925, 2319, 2821, 3039). That in the present case they signify Divine truth, is evident from their being called the angels “of God,” for “God” is named when in the internal sense truth is treated of, but “Jehovah” when good is treated of (n. 2586, 2769, 2807, 2822); and this is the reason why although “Jehovah” is presently named, and it is said, “behold Jehovah standing upon it,” still they are here called angels of “God;” for the subject is the truth from which is good, which is here represented by Jacob, as has been frequently said above. That by “ascending and descending on the ladder” is in the supreme sense signified infinite and eternal communication and the consequent conjunction, is evident without further explication. Communication, and the consequent conjunction, cannot be predicated of the Lord’s Divine Itself, and of His Divine Human, unless at the same time they are said to be infinite and eternal; for in the Lord all is infinite and eternal; infinite in respect to being, and eternal in respect to manifestation. From all that has been said it is evident that of the “ladder set on the earth, and its head reaching to heaven; and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it,” the sum total of the signification is an ascent as it were from what is lowest, and afterwards when the order is inverted, a descent.

[2] How the case is with this ascent and descent, may be seen from what has been said and shown above (n. 3539, 3548, 3556, 3563, 3570, 3576, 3603, 3607, 3610, 3665, 3690). But as this order, which is that of the regeneration of man, and which is described in the internal sense of this and the following verses, is altogether unknown in the church, the nature of it may be further illustrated. It is known that man is born into the nature of his parents, and of his grandfathers, and also of those who have been his ancestors for ages; thus he is born into the hereditary evil of them all successively accumulated, insomuch that as regards what is from himself he is nothing but evil. The result of this is that as to both understanding and will man has been utterly destroyed; and of himself wills nothing of good, and consequently understands nothing of truth; and therefore that which he calls good and believes to be good, is evil; and that which he calls truth and believes to be truth, is falsity. For example: loving himself above others; desiring better for himself than for others; coveting what belongs to another; taking thought for himself alone, and not for others except for the sake of himself. As of himself man is desirous of these things he therefore calls them goods, and also truths; and what is more, if anyone injures or endeavors to injure him in respect to these goods and truths as he calls them, he hates him, and also burns with revenge toward him, desires and even seeks his ruin, and feels delight in it, and this in proportion as he actually confirms himself in such things, that is, in proportion as he more frequently brings them into actual exercise.

[3] When such a person comes into the other life he has the same desires; the very nature which he has contracted in the world by actual life remains, and the delight just referred to is plainly perceived. For this reason such a man cannot be in any heavenly society, in which everyone desires better for others than for himself, but has to be in some infernal society where the delight is similar to his own. This nature is that which must be rooted out while the man lives in the world, which cannot possibly be done except by the Lord through regeneration; that is, by his receiving a totally new will and derivative new understanding; or in other words by being made new in respect to both these faculties. But in order that this may be effected, the man must first of all be reborn as a little child, and must learn what is evil and false, and also what is good and true; for without knowledge he cannot be imbued with any good; for from himself he acknowledges nothing to be good but what is evil, and nothing to be true but what is false.

[4] To this end such knowledges are insinuated into him as are not altogether contrary to those which he had before; as that all love begins from self; that self is to be taken care of first and then others; that good is to be done to such as appear poor and distressed outwardly, no matter what may be their inward character; in like manner that good is to be done to widows and orphans simply because they are so called; and lastly, to enemies in general, whoever they may be; and that thereby a man may merit heaven. These and other such knowledges are those of the infancy of his new life, and are of such a nature that while they derive somewhat from his former life or the nature of his former life, they also derive somewhat from his new life into which he is thereby being introduced; and hence they are such as to admit into them whatever things are conducive to the formation of a new will and a new understanding. These are the lowest goods and truths, from which those who are being regenerated commence, and because these admit into themselves truths that are more interior or nearer to Divine truths, by their means there may also be rooted out the falsities which the man had before believed to be truths.

[5] But they who are being regenerated do not learn such truths simply as memory-knowledges, but as life, for they do these truths; but that they do them is from the beginning of the new will which the Lord insinuates entirely without their knowledge; and insofar as they receive of this new will, so far they receive of these knowledges, and bring them into act, and believe them; but insofar as they do not receive of the new will, so far they are indeed capable of learning such things, but not of bringing them into act, because they care merely for memory-knowledge, and not for life.

[6] This is the state of infancy and childhood in respect to the new life which is about to succeed in place of the former life; but the state of the adolescence and youth of this life is that regard is no longer had to any person as he appears in the external form but to his quality in respect to good; first in civil life, next in moral life, and lastly in spiritual life; and good is that which the man then begins to hold and love in the prior place, and from good to love the person; and at last, when he is still further perfected, he takes care to do good to those who are in good, and this in accordance with the quality of the good in them, and at last he feels delight in doing good to them, because he feels delight in good, and pleasantness in the things that confirm it. These confirmatory things he acknowledges as truths; and they also are the truths of his new understanding, which flow from the goods which are of his new will.

[7] In the degree that he feels delight in this good, and pleasantness in these truths, he has a feeling of what is undelightful in the evils of his former life, and of what is unpleasing in its falsities; and the result is that a separation takes place of the things which are of the former will and the former understanding from the things that are of the new will and the new understanding; and this not in accordance with the affection of knowing such things, but in accordance with the affection of doing them. Consequently the man then sees that the truths of his infancy were relatively inverted, and that the same had been by little and little brought back into a different order, namely, to be inversely subordinate, so that those which at first were in the prior place are now in the posterior place; thus that by those truths which were the truths of his infancy and childhood, the angels of God had ascended as by a ladder from earth to heaven; but afterwards, by the truths of his adult age, the angels of God descended as by a ladder from heaven to earth.