7166. 'Why is this, that You have sent me?' means when yet the law going forth from God seems to promise something different. This is clear from the meaning of 'Why is this?' as, Why is this so when something different is said? from the representation of Moses, who uses these words in reference to himself, as the law from God, dealt with just above in 7164; and from the meaning of 'being sent' as going forth, dealt with in 4710, 6831. Consequently 'Why is this, [that] you have sent me?' means that the law going forth from God seems to promise something different. Because these words are spoken by one complaining about the molestation by falsities, the law from God appears to promise something different. This is why the expression 'seems to promise something different' is used, though in actual fact it does not promise anything different. For the law from God is the law of order, and the law of order so far as those passing through a state of molestations by falsities are concerned is that they must be molested until they reach the point of despair. Unless they reach the point of despair the final advantage to be gained from molestation is lost. The fact that temptation grows ever stronger until a person reaches the point of despair is plainly evident from the Lord's temptation in Gethsemane, Matthew 26:38-39; Mark 14:33-36; Luke 22:44, and also after that on the Cross, Matthew 27:46, when it was made to reach the state of despair. Now the Lord's temptation is the pattern which the temptation of faithful believers follows, which is why the Lord says that those who wish to follow Him must take up their cross, Matthew 10:38; 16:24. For the glorification of the Lord is the pattern that the regeneration of man follows, 3138, 3212, 3296, 3490, 4402, 5688; and regeneration is effected chiefly by means of temptations.

5688. 'Is this your youngest brother, whom you said [something about] to me?' means born after all of them, as they well knew. This is clear from the meaning of 'youngest brother' as the one born after all of them, dealt with in what follows; and from the meaning of 'whom you said to me' as that which was perceived by them. For 'saying' means that which has been perceived, see immediately above in 5687, and so means what is well known. The reason Benjamin is called here, as he in fact was, their 'youngest brother' - that is, the one born after all of them, or the youngest by birth - is that in the spiritual sense the intermediary, which 'Benjamin' represents, is likewise the one that comes last. The intermediary in a person is born last of all; for when a person is undergoing spiritual birth - that is, when he is being born again - his rational, which is his inner man, is regenerated first by the Lord, then the natural after that, the rational being the means by which the Lord regenerates the natural, 3286, 3288, 3321, 3493, 4612. Now since the intermediary must be derived from both these - both from the spiritual rational or rational that has been made new, and from the natural - and since the intermediary cannot be derived from the natural unless this too has been made new, the intermediary is inevitably born at a later stage, and then only insofar as the natural is regenerated.

[2] Everything recorded in the Word regarding the sons of Jacob happened for a providential reason, which was that the Word might be written dealing with them and their descendants. This Word was to contain heavenly realities, and in the highest sense Divine ones, which those sons in actual fact represented. This was no less so in the case of Benjamin who, being the one born last of all, represented the intermediary between the internal and the external, that is, between the celestial of the spiritual which was the Lord's when He was in the world and the natural which was also the Lord's and which He was to make Divine.

[3] Everything recorded about Joseph and his brothers represents in the highest sense the glorification of the Lord's Human, that is, the way in which the Lord made the Human within Himself Divine. The reason this is what is represented in the inmost sense is so that in its inmost sense the Word may be completely holy. A further reason is that every detail recorded may contain within itself what can pass into angelic wisdom; for it is well known that angelic wisdom so surpasses man's wisdom that man can hardly begin to comprehend any of it. The actual happiness of the angels resides in the fact that every detail has to do with the Lord; for they abide in Him. Furthermore the glorification of the Lord's Human is the pattern for a person's regeneration, which is why a person's regeneration is also presented in the internal sense at the same time as the subject of the Lord's glorification is dealt with. A person's regeneration and the countless arcana associated with it also passes into angelic wisdom and brings the angels happiness insofar as they apply those arcana to useful services, which look to a person's reformation.