8647. 'And Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses, took Zipporah, the wife of Moses' means the good from God which had been joined to God's truth. This is clear from the representation of Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses' as Divine Good, the source of the good joined to truth, in this instance God's truth, which 'Moses' represents, dealt with above in 8643, 8644; from the representation of 'Zipporah, the wife of Moses' as the good from God. Marriages represent goodness and truth joined together. In the celestial Church the husband represents good and the wife the truth coming from it; but in the spiritual Church the man represents truth and the wife good. Here 'the wife of Moses' represents good because the spiritual kingdom is dealt with, see 2517, 4510, 4823, 7022.

8643. 'And Jethro, the priest of Midian' means Divine Good. This is clear from the representation of 'Jethro, the priest of Midian' as the good of the Church which is guided by the truth that goes with simple good, dealt with in 7015, but at this point Divine Good, because 'Moses', whose father-in-law he was, represented Divine Truth; for when the son-in-law represents truth, the father-in-law represents good, that is, a higher level of good since he is his wife's father. The reason why Divine Good is represented at this point by 'Jethro' is that the subject in this chapter is the arranging of truths into order with a member of the spiritual Church, which is done by Divine Good working through Divine Truth. For whenever arrangement into order takes place it is done by good working through truth.

[2] Truths are arranged into order in this way with a member of the spiritual Church when his actions begin to be governed no longer by truth but by good. This state is his second state, which arises after he has undergone temptations. When truth governs his actions he undergoes temptation, to the end that the truths with him may become firmly accepted. Once they have been firmly accepted they are arranged into order by the Lord; and once they have been arranged into order the person enters the second state, in which the truths are in his will and in his actions. As a result of this they become part of his life, and are called forms of good. This arranging of truths into order is the subject below.