3296. And the elder shall serve the younger. That this signifies that for a time the good of truth should be inferior, is evident from the signification of the “elder,” as being good; from the signification of “serving,” as being inferior; and from the signification of the “younger,” as being truth. How the case herein is may be seen from what follows, where it is described under the representation of Esau and Jacob; for as before said by Esau is represented good, and by Jacob, truth. That there was struggling or combat concerning priority and dominion, is described in the internal sense by Jacob’s taking away from Esau the birthright, and also his blessing; yet that this was done only for a time is manifest from Isaac’s prophecy concerning Esau.

And upon thy sword shalt thou live, and shalt serve thy brother; and it shall come to pass when thou shalt have the dominion, that thou shalt break his yoke from off thy neck (Genesis 27:40).

[2] That these things have an internal sense, and that what they signify cannot be known without the internal sense (namely, what is signified by two nations being in the womb, and by two peoples being separated from the bowels, and by one people prevailing over the other, and the elder serving the younger), is evident; and that they signify what has been said, is evident from what follows, where much will be said on this subject. Moreover it can with difficulty be believed that these expressions involve such things unless it is known how the case is with good and truth, and concerning the birth of the one from the other, and the change of state in man when he is being regenerated. In the internal sense indeed the Lord is treated of, and here how He made His natural Divine; nevertheless in the representative sense the regeneration of man is also treated of; for man’s regeneration is an image of the Lord’s glorification (n. 3043, 3138, 3212); that is, in regeneration as in a certain image it appears how the Lord glorified His Human, or what is the same, made it Divine. For as the Lord altogether changed His human state into the Divine, so also in man, when He regenerates him, the Lord utterly changes the man’s state, for He makes his old man new.

1530. That this is so the Word has shown to all; as when the Lord was made manifest to Peter, James, and John; for His face then shone as the sun, and His garments became as the light (Matthew 17:2). He so appeared to them simply because their interior sight was opened. The same is confirmed also in the Prophets; as in Isaiah, where the Lord’s kingdom in the heavens is treated of:

The light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days (Isaiah 30:26).

And in John, where also the Lord’s kingdom, which is called the New Jerusalem, is spoken of:

The city hath no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it; for the glory of God doth lighten it, and the Lamb is the lamp thereof (Revelation 21:23).

And again:

There shall be no night there, and they have no need of a lamp, neither light of the sun, for the Lord God giveth them light (Revelation 22:5).

Besides that when the Lord appeared to Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and the seventy elders,

they saw the God of Israel, under whose feet was as it were a work of sapphire stone, and as it were the substance of heaven in clearness (Exodus 24:10).

As the Lord’s celestial and spiritual appear before the external sight of the angels as a Sun and a Moon, therefore “the sun” in the Word signifies what is celestial, and “the moon” what is spiritual.