3368. 'Do not go down to Egypt; dwell in the land of which I tell you' means not resorting to facts but to rational concepts which, when enlightened from the Divine, are appearances of truth. This is clear from the meaning of 'Egypt' as facts, dealt with in 1164, 1165, 1186, 1462, and from the meaning of 'the land' here as rational concepts which, when enlightened from the Divine, are appearances of truth. 'The land' meant here is in fact Gerar, where Abimelech the king of the Philistines was, and 'Gerar' means faith, 'Abimelech' the doctrine of faith that has regard to rational concepts, and 'the king of the Philistines' matters of doctrine, see 3364, 3365. 'The land' therefore, that is to say, Gerar where Abimelech was, has no other meaning in the internal sense. For 'the land' or 'the earth' varies in meaning, see 620, 636, 1066, since it means the character of the nation whose land it is said to be, 1262, though in the proper sense it means the Church, 3355; and as it means the Church it also means the things that belong to the Church, that is, the things which with anyone constitute the Church. Consequently it means the matters of doctrine concerning charity and faith, and so also the rational concepts which, when enlightened from the Divine, are appearances of truth; for these appearances are the truths of the Church, and so its matters of doctrine, see above in 3364, 3365.

[2] Whether you speak of rational concepts enlightened from the Divine, or of appearances of truth, or of celestial and spiritual truths as these exist in the Lord's kingdom in the heavens, or in heaven, and as they exist in the Lord's kingdom on earth, or in the Church, it amounts to the same. The same are also called matters of doctrine, but this is so because of the truths they hold within them. The rational, both in angels and in men, has its being and is called rational from appearances of truth that have been enlightened from the Divine. Devoid of those appearances the rational has no existence, so that rational concepts are appearances. The reason it is said here that he was not to go down to Egypt, that is, not to resort to facts, is that facts have been dealt with already, in that Abraham's sojourning in Egypt represented the Lord's instruction in facts during childhood; see 1502.

[3] The implications of the arcanum that he was not to go down into Egypt but was to sojourn in the land of Gerar, that is, He was not to have regard to facts but to rational concepts, are that all appearances of truth that hold the Divine within them belong to the rational, so much so that rational truths and appearances of truth are one and the same, whereas facts belong to the natural, so much so that natural truths and factual truths are one and the same. Rational truths, or appearances of the truth, cannot possibly exist or manifest themselves except from an influx of the Divine into the rational, and by way of rational concepts into the facts that belong to the natural. That which is produced at that time in the rational is seen in the natural as an image produced by many objects reflected simultaneously in a mirror. This is how they present themselves to men and to angels also, though with angels the presentation of rational concepts in the natural is not very manifest, as it is with those in the world of spirits and the spiritual-natural realm, who therefore have representatives of truth.

[4] It is similar with men, with every one, for as stated already anyone who is governed by good is a miniature heaven, or what amounts to the same, an image of heaven as a whole. And because Divine Truth is unable to flow directly into the facts that are present in the natural man, but only - as has been stated - by way of rational concepts it is therefore said here, Do not go down to Egypt, but dwell in the land of Gerar. But as no clear idea of these matters is possible unless one knows the nature of influx, and also the nature of ideas, therefore they are in the Lord's Divine mercy to be dealt with at the ends of chapters, where experiences to do with influx will be described.

3194. 'Isaac had come from Beer Lahai Roi' means Divine Rational Good born from Divine Truth itself. This is clear from the representation of 'Isaac' as the Lord's Divine Rational, dealt with in 2083, 2630, here as regards Divine Good there since Divine truth, represented by Rebekah, had not yet been summoned out of the natural and joined to it - that joining together being the subject in what follows now; and from the meaning of 'coming from Beer Lahai Roi' as born from Divine Truth. In the original language Beer Lahai Roi means The spring of the Living One who sees me, as above in Genesis 16:13-14, where one reads,

Hagar called the name of Jehovah who spoke to her, You are a God who sees me; for she said, Have I not also here seen after Him who sees me? Therefore she called the spring, Beer Lahai Roi (The spring of the Living One who sees me).

For the meaning of these two verses, see 1952-1958, where also it is evident that 'a spring' means Divine Truth, and that 'the Living One who sees me' means Divine Rational Good, which is there called the Lord's Interior man, springing from Divine Truth. The substance of this very deep arcanum is that Good and Truth belong essentially to the Divine itself; but the Lord's Divine Human came into existence from Divine Good, and was born from Divine Truth. Or what amounts to the same, the Lord's Essential Being (Esse) was Divine Good, and the Manifestation (Existere) of Him was Divine Truth. This was the origin of the Lord's Divine Rational Good to which He joined Divine Truth from the Human.