10299. 'An ointment, the work of an ointment-maker' means as a result of the influx and operation of what is Divine and the Lord's within every single part. This is clear from the meaning of 'ointment', or perfume, as the kinds of truth within every single part of the worship, dealt with in 10264; and from the meaning of 'the work of an ointment-maker (or perfumer)' as the influx and operation of Divinity itself, dealt with in 10265.

[2] How to understand this, that the influx and operation must exist within every single part of the worship, must also be stated briefly. Those who have no knowledge of the arcana of heaven suppose that worship begins in the person himself since it flows from the thought and feelings within him. But worship that begins in the person is not true worship; consequently offerings of thanksgiving, adoration, and prayer which begin in the person are not the offerings of thanksgiving, adoration, and prayer that are heard and accepted by the Lord. They must begin in the Lord present with the person. The Church knows that this is so, for it teaches that no good thing emanates from man, but that everything good comes from heaven, that is, begins in God there; also that He is the source of all that is good within worship, and that worship devoid of what is good is not worship. The Church therefore, when engaged in anything holy, prays that God may be present, giving guidance to thought and speech. What happens in all this is that when a person is engaged in true worship the Lord flows into the forms of good and the truths present with the person, raises them towards Himself, and raises the person with them, in the measure and degree that they govern him. This raising is not apparent to the person if he does not have any real affection for truth and good, and does not know, acknowledge, and believe that everything good comes from above, beginning in the Lord.

[3] Even those who are knowledgeable about worldly things can grasp the truth of this, for they know from the learning they have received that there is no such thing as natural influx, or physical influx as they term it, only spiritual influx; that is, nothing can flow from the natural world into heaven, only from heaven into the natural world. All this goes to show how to understand the explanation that the influx and operation of what is Divine and the Lord's must exist in every single part of the worship. I have also been allowed to learn by much experience that it is so; for I have been allowed to feel the actual influx, the calling forth of the truths present within me, the linking of them to the objects of prayer, the accompanying affection for good, and the actual raising up.

[4] But though all this is so, a person ought not to let hands hang down and wait for influx to come, for that would be behaving like a lifeless statue. A person should think, will, and act as if doing so all by himself, yet should attribute to the Lord all his thought of what is true and endeavour towards what is good. When this happens the Lord implants within the person the ability to receive Him and influx from Him.

[5] For the human being was created with no other end in view than to be a receptacle of the Divine; and the ability to receive the Divine is formed within him in no other way. Once it has been formed in him he has no other wish than that the situation should be such, for he loves the influx from the Lord and loathes operating all by himself. This is because influx from the Lord is the influx of good, whereas operating all by oneself is the operation of evil. All the angels in heaven feel the same way, which is why in the Word truths and forms of good derived from the Lord are meant by angels; for they are recipients of them, see 1925, 3039, 4085, 4295, 8192.

4295. 'And Jacob asked and said, Tell me, I pray, your name' means the angelic heaven and the nature of that heaven. This becomes clear from the representation of Jacob' as the Lord's Divine Natural, dealt with already, and from the meaning of 'God' whose name he asked for, and also of 'men', with whom he contended as a prince and prevailed, as truths and goods, and so as those who are governed by truths and goods, dealt with above in 4287. And since the angelic heaven is heaven by virtue of truths and goods it is that heaven specifically which is meant by God and men with whom the Lord prevailed. Angels are also sometimes called 'gods' in the Word, it being by virtue of truths and goods that they are called such, as in David,

God stands in the assembly of God, in the midst of the gods will He judge. I said, You are gods, and sons of the Most High, all of you. Psalms 82:1, 6.

Here it is quite plain that 'the assembly of God' and 'the gods' are the angelic heaven. In the same author,

Who in the sky will be compared to Jehovah? Who will be likened to Jehovah among the sons of gods? Psalms 89:6.

In the same author,

Confess the God of gods; confess the Lord of lords Psalms 136:2-3.

From these quotations it is evident - as it is also from the fact that no one can contend as a prince with God and prevail, and likewise from the fact that the one who is called a god was unwilling to reveal his name - that it was the angelic heaven with which the Lord fought. It is quite plain from the actual words themselves 'Why is it that you ask my name?' that an arcanum lies within them, for if he had been Jehovah God he would not have concealed his name. Nor would Jacob have asked 'What is your name?' for asking the name implies some person or persons other than God Himself.

[2] The truth that the Lord at length fought with actual angels, indeed with the whole angelic heaven, is an arcanum which has not been disclosed up to now. But the implications of this are as follows: Angels do indeed possess supreme wisdom and intelligence, yet all their wisdom and intelligence comes to them from the Lord's Divine. They have no wisdom or intelligence at all that originates in themselves, that is, in their proprium. Therefore it is only insofar as they are governed by truths and goods received from the Lord's Divine that they are wise and intelligent. The fact that angels have no wisdom or intelligence at all originating in themselves they themselves openly confess. Indeed they are also quite angry if anyone attributes to them any wisdom or intelligence at all, for they know and perceive that it would be taking away from the Divine that which is His and it would be claiming for themselves that which is not theirs, and so would be engaging in the crime of spiritual theft. Angels also say that their entire proprium consists in evil and falsity, both because of their heredity and also because of their own conduct in the world when they were men, 1880. Nor, they say, is evil or falsity separated - that is, wiped away - from them, whereby they are made righteous; rather, the whole of it remains with them, though the Lord withholds them from that evil and falsity and keeps them in good and truth, 1581. These things are confessed by every angel, and no one is allowed into heaven if he does not know and believe them. For otherwise they cannot dwell in the light of wisdom and intelligence coming from the Lord, nor consequently in good and truth. From this one can also know how the words in Job 15:15 stating that heaven is not pure in the eyes of God are to be understood.

[3] This being so, in order that the Lord might bring the whole of heaven into proper heavenly order, He even allowed angels into Himself to tempt Him, who, insofar as they acted from their proprium, did not do so from good and truth. These temptations are the inmost of all, for they go to work solely on the ends one has in view and with a subtlety such as can by no means be detected. But insofar as angels do not act from their proprium they act from good and truth and are unable to tempt anyone. What is more, angels are being perfected constantly by the Lord, and yet their perfection cannot ever reach the point when their wisdom and intelligence can be compared with the Lord's Divine wisdom and intelligence, since they are finite whereas the Lord is Infinite, and no comparison of finite with Infinite is possible. From all this one may now see what 'God with whom Jacob contended as a prince' is used to mean, and also why he was unwilling to reveal his name.