972. Thou art just, O Lord, who is, and who was. That this signifies the Lord as to Divine good from eternity, is evident from the signification of just, when predicated of the Lord, as denoting Divine good; for just, in the Word, is said of good, and holy of truth (see above n. 204); and from the signification of, who is, and who was, as denoting the Infinite and Eternal. For Is and Was is the same as Jehovah. And the Lord in the Word is called Jehovah from Divine good, and God from Divine truth. And Esse, when said of the Lord, is to be from Himself, which is in Himself; and Existere, when said of Him, is also to exist from Himself and in Himself. And the Existere, in the relative sense, is the Esse in all things of heaven and the church, which is effected by Divine truth. This Esse is meant by eternal; for eternal, when said of the Lord, is understood in heaven apart from any idea of time, thus different from the understanding of it in the world. For eternal in the angelic idea is the state of the Divine Existence, which yet makes one with the Divine Essence, which is Jehovah. The Infinite as to Esse is signified by the "Is" in Jehovah; and the Infinite as to Existere is signified by the "Was" in Jehovah. The Infinite Existere, which also is Eternal, is the proceeding Divine, from which is heaven and everything pertaining to it. The Divine Existere is also the Divine Esse; but it is called Existere with respect to heaven, where it is the all in all.

Continuation concerning the Fifth Precept:-

He who abstains from thefts, understood in a broad sense, in fact, he who shuns them from any other reason than religion and for the sake of life eternal, is not purified from them; for no other reason opens heaven. For the Lord, by means of heaven, removes evils with man, as by this He also removes the hells.

For example, administrators of goods higher and lower, merchants, judges, officers of every kind, and labourers, who abstain from theft, that is from unlawful modes of gain and usury, and also shun them, but only for the sake of reputation, and, consequently, of honour and gain, or for the sake of civil and moral laws, in a word, from any natural love or fear, thus because of external bonds alone, and not because of religion - such persons are still, as to their interior life, full of the desire to thieve and plunder, which also breaks out when external bonds are removed. This is the case with every one after death. Their sincerity and rectitude is merely a mask, disguise, and cunning.

5951. 'And the sons of Israel did so' means a putting into effect by the spiritual truths within the natural. This is clear from the meaning of 'they did' as a putting into effect; and from the representation of 'the sons of Israel' as the spiritual truths within the natural, dealt with in 5414, 5879. What spiritual truths within the natural are must be stated: The truths of faith if separate from man, spirit, or angel are not in fact the truths of faith, for they are not attached to a recipient in whom they become such truths. But when they are attached to man, spirit, or angel as their recipient they then become the truths of faith, yet varyingly so according to each individual's state of life. With those who are just beginning to learn them they are no more than factual knowledge. If after that those people truly revere them they go on from being factual knowledge to become the truths of the Church. When however they have an affection for those truths and lead lives in keeping with them, they become spiritual truths; for the good of love and charity, which has its origin solely in the spiritual world, then enters in and brings life to them. For having an affection for them and leading a life in keeping with them stem from that good.

[2] What truths, called the truths of faith, are like with those who lead lives in keeping with them, and with those who do not, has been shown to me. With people who do not lead lives in keeping with them those truths have manifested themselves as white threads; and with people who knew those truths yet did nothing good at all they were fragile ones. But with people who do lead lives in keeping with them those truths have manifested themselves as fibres extending from the brain, which were filled with spirituous fluid and were soft. Thus these latter truths had life in them, the former did not. From all this one may recognize that the nature of the truths present with people depends on the individual's state of life. The truths which 'the sons of Jacob' represent are not as yet spiritual truths because they have not as yet been made matters of life. But the truths represented by those men as 'the sons of Israel' are spiritual ones because, having been made matters of life, the good of love and charity has entered them. Such truths are meant here because now the subject is the initial stage in the joining of the truths within the natural, which are 'the sons of Jacob', to internal good, which is 'Joseph', through the intermediary, which is 'Benjamin', and also through spiritual good, which is 'Israel'.