3141. 'Why do you stand outside?' means at some distance away. This becomes clear without explanation; for the situation is that the Lord's Divine Rational was born from Divine Truth itself joined to Divine Good, the Divine Rational being Isaac whom Sarah, who is the Divine Truth here, bore to Abraham, who is the Divine Good here, as shown already. None but the Lord's Divine Rational was born in this fashion. It was indeed born from Himself because the Lord's Essential Being (Esse) was Jehovah or Divine Good itself, while the Lord's Essential Being (Esse) proceeding from it was also Jehovah's, that is, it was Divine Truth itself. The Divine Good within the Rational, which is Isaac, was born in such a way that Good was not separate from Truth, but was Divine Good together with Divine Truth. Both together however are called Good within the Rational to which truth from the natural man, the truth which is Rebekah, was to be joined. To make His Human Divine as regards Good as well as regards Truth, by the ordinary way, as stated above in 3138, the Lord could act in no other possible way. For this is the Divine order by which all regeneration takes place, thus by which the Lord's glorification took place, 3138 (end). It was that Divine Good coming by way of Divine Truth within the Rational that was flowing into the natural man and enlightening all things there. The process itself is described here, that is to say, it first of all flowed in somewhat more remotely, which is meant here by at some distance away, and did not wish to do so more closely until instruction had taken place.

[2] For the ordinary way is that instruction should come first. Then influx takes place according to the depth of knowledge laid down by that instruction - so that from that depth of knowledge truth may continually flow and be introduced into, and then be joined to, the good of the rational. From these considerations one may see the nature of the arcana contained in the internal sense of the Word, and that those arcana are such that even the most general of them are scarcely intelligible to man. To angels however they are plain to see, together with countless other things which cannot possibly be put into words.

2333. 'And in the morning you may rise up and go your way' means being strengthened in this way in good and truth. This becomes clear from the meaning of 'rising up in the morning', and also from the meaning of 'going on one's way'. In the Word 'the morning' means the Lord's kingdom and whatever belongs to the Lord's kingdom, and so primarily the good that flows from love and charity. This will be confirmed from the Word at verse 15. 'Way' however means truth, see 627. From this it follows that after they had been in his house and spent the night there, which meant that they dwelt in the good of charity with him, 'they rose up in the morning and went their way', which means that in this way they were confirmed in good and truth.

[2] These phrases, as do all the rest, show how far removed the internal sense is from the sense of the letter and therefore how hidden from view it is, especially in the historical parts of the Word. They show that this sense is not discernible unless individual expressions are explained according to the meaning they have all through the Word. Consequently when ideas are confined to the sense of the letter, the internal sense is seen as something altogether dark and obscure. Conversely when ideas are confined to the internal sense, the sense of the letter in a similar way is seen as something obscure. Indeed angels see it as nothing, for angels no longer have worldly and bodily ideas as man does, but spiritual and celestial ones, into which the expressions of the sense of the letter are marvellously converted when the Word which man is reading rises up to the sphere in which angels dwell, that is, up to heaven. This happens because of the correspondence of spiritual things with worldly, and of celestial with bodily, a correspondence which is absolutely consistent but whose nature has not been disclosed until now in the explanation of expressions, names, and numbers in the Word as to their internal sense.

[3] So that the nature of that correspondence may be known, or what amounts to the same, how worldly and bodily ideas pass over into corresponding spiritual and celestial ideas when they are raised towards heaven, let 'the morning' and 'way' be taken as examples: When a person reads of 'the morning', as in the phrase here 'rising up in the morning', angels do not conceive the idea of the start to a new day but the idea which 'morning' has in the spiritual sense. The idea they conceive is similar to the statement in Samuel,

The Rock of Israel . . . He is like morning light, when the sun rises on a cloudless morning. 2 Samuel 23:3-4.

And in Daniel,

The Holy One said to me, Up to the evening when it is becoming morning, two thousand three hundred times. Daniel 8:14, 26.

Thus instead of 'the morning' angels perceive the Lord, or His kingdom, or celestial things of love and charity. This they do varyingly according to the train of thought in the Word which a person is reading.

[4] Similarly where a person reads of 'a way', as in 'going on your way' here, they cannot have any idea of a way, but a spiritual or a celestial idea, that is to say, like that in John, when the Lord said,

I am the way and the truth. John 14:6.

Also the idea in David,

Make Your ways known to me, O Jehovah, guide my way in truth. Psalms 25:4-5.

And in Isaiah,

He made him know the way of understanding. Isaiah 40:14.

Thus instead of 'a way' angels perceive truth. They do so in the historical as well as the prophetical sections of the Word; in fact angels no longer have any interest in matters of history as these are not at all in keeping with the ideas they have. Consequently in place of historical details they perceive such things as belong to the Lord and His kingdom, which also follow on one after another in marvellous array and perfect sequence in the internal sense. For this reason, so that the Word may serve angels as well, all historical details there are representative, and each expression serves to mean such things. This special feature is what makes the Word different from all other literature.