3579. And God shall give thee of the dew of heaven. That this signifies from Divine truth, and that “of the fat things of the earth” signifies from Divine good, is evident from the signification of the “dew of heaven,” as being truth (of which in what follows); and from the signification of “fat things,” as being good (n. 353), both Divine in the supreme sense, in which they are predicated of the Lord. With the multiplication of truth and fructification of good the case is this: When the rational flows into the natural, it there presents its good in a general form; through this good it produces truths therein, almost as the life in man builds up fibers, and disposes them into forms according to uses. This good, through these truths disposed into heavenly order, produces further good; and through this good further truths, which are derivations. Such a natural idea may be had of the formation of truth from good, and further of good through truth, whereby again truth is formed; but a spiritual idea cannot be had except by those who are in the other life, for there ideas are formed from the light of heaven, in which is intelligence.

[2] That “dew” signifies truth is evident also from the Word elsewhere, as in Zechariah:

The seed of peace, the vine shall give her fruit and the earth shall give her produce, and the heavens shall give their dew (Zechariah 8:12);

speaking of a new church, where the “vine giving its fruit” denotes the spiritual of the church or the truth of faith, giving good; and the “earth giving its produce,” the celestial of the church or the good of charity, giving truth; these are the “dew which the heavens shall give.”

In Haggai:

Because of Mine house that lieth waste over you the heavens are closed from dew, and the earth is closed from her produce (Haggai 1:9-10); where the “dew of the heavens and the produce of the earth,” which were restrained, have a like signification.

[3] In David:

From the womb of the dawning, thou hast the dew of thy birth (Psalms 110:3); concerning the Lord; the “dew of birth” denoting the celestial of love.

In Moses:

Blessed of Jehovah be his land, for the precious things of heaven, for the dew, and for the deep lying beneath (Deuteronomy 33:13); concerning Joseph; the “precious things of heaven” are spiritual things (n. 3166), which are signified by “dew;” the “deep lying beneath” signifies natural things. Again:

Israel dwelt securely, alone at the fountain of Jacob, in a land of corn and new wine, yea his heavens dropped down dew (Deuteronomy 33:28); where also the “dew which the heavens dropped” denotes the spiritual things which are of truth.

[4] In the genuine sense “dew” is the truth of good which is from a state of innocence and peace; for by “morning” or “day-dawn,” when the dew descends, are signified these states (see n. 2333, 2405, 2540, 2780); hence also the manna which was from heaven was with the dew that descended in the morning, as may be seen from Moses:

In the morning the dew was laid round about the camp; and when the laying of the dew withdrew, behold on the faces of the wilderness a small round thing, small as the hoar frost on the ground (Exodus 16:13-14). When the dew fell upon the camp in the night, the manna fell upon it (Numbers 11:9).

As the manna was heavenly bread, in the supreme sense it signified the Lord as to the Divine good; hence with men the celestial of love, for this is from the Divine of the the Lord, (n. 276

680, 1798, 2165, 2177, 3464, 3478); the “dew” in which and with which the manna descended, in the supreme sense denotes the Divine truth; and in the relative sense, the spiritual truth with men; “morning” is the state of peace in which these goods are (n. 92, 93, 1726, 2780, 3170).

[5] Inasmuch as “dew” signifies the truth which is from good, or what is the same, the spiritual which is from the celestial, therefore also in the Word spiritual truth is compared to “dew;” for things which signify serve also for comparison with the same thing, as in Isaiah:

Thus hath Jehovah said unto me, I will be still, and I will behold in My dwelling-place; like serene heat upon light; like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest (Isaiah 18:4).

In Hosea:

O Ephraim, what shall I do unto thee? O Judah, what shall I do unto thee? For your holiness is as a cloud of the dawn, and as the dew that falleth in the morning (Hosea 6:4; 13:3).

Again:

I will be as the dew unto Israel; he shall blossom as the lily, and shall fix his roots as Lebanon (Hosea 14:5).

In Micah:

The remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many peoples as dew from Jehovah, as drops upon the herb (Micah 5:7).

In David:

Like the goodly oil upon the head that came down upon the border of Aaron’s garments; like the dew of Hermon that cometh down upon the mountains of Zion; for there Jehovah commanded the blessing of life forevermore (Psalms 133:2-3

And in Moses:

My doctrine shall drop as the rain, My word shall distil as the dew; as the small rain upon the grass; and as drops upon the herb (Deuteronomy 32:2); where “dew” denotes the multiplication of truth from good, and the fructification of good through truth; and as the dew is that which every morning renders the field and vineyard fruitful, good itself and truth are signified by “corn and new wine,” concerning which in what follows.

1798. Abram said, Lo to me Thou hast not given seed. That this signifies that there was no internal of the church, is evident from the signification of “seed,” which is love and faith, spoken of above (n. 255, 256, 1025), and from the signification of an heir, as explained in what follows. That love and the faith derived from it are the internal of the church, has already been several times said and shown. No other faith is meant as being the internal of the church than that which is of love or charity, that is, which is from love or charity.

[2] Faith, in a general sense, is all the doctrinal teaching of the church. But doctrine [doctrinale] separated from love or charity, by no means makes the internal of the church, for doctrine is only knowledge which is of the memory, and this exists also with the worst men, and even with infernals. But the doctrine that is from charity, or that is of charity, does make the internal of the church, for this is of the life. The life itself is the internal of all worship; and so is all doctrine that flows from the life of charity; and it is this doctrine that is of faith which is here meant. That it is this faith which is the internal of the church, may be seen from this consideration alone, that he who has the life of charity is acquainted with all things of faith. If you will, just examine all doctrinal things, and see what and of what quality they are; do they not all pertain to charity, and consequently to the faith that is from charity?

[3] Take only the Precepts of the Decalogue. The first of these is to worship the Lord God. He who has the life of love or of charity worships the Lord God, because this is his life. Another precept is to keep the Sabbath. He who is in the life of love, or in charity, keeps the Sabbath holy, for nothing is more sweet to him than to worship the Lord, and to glorify Him every day. The precept, “Thou shalt not kill,” is altogether of charity. He who loves his neighbor as himself, shudders at doing anything that injures him, still more at killing him. So too the precept, “Thou shalt not steal;” for he who has the life of charity would rather give of his own to his neighbor, than take anything away from him. And so with the precept, “Thou shalt not commit adultery;” he who is in the life of charity the rather guards his neighbor’s wife, lest anyone should offer her such injury, and regards adultery as a crime against conscience, and such as destroys conjugial love and its duties. To covet the things that are the neighbor’s is also contrary to those who are in the life of charity; for it is of charity to desire good to others from one’s self and one’s own; such therefore by no means covet the things which are another’s.

[4] These are the precepts of the Decalogue which are more external doctrinal things of faith; and these are not only known in the memory by him who is in charity and its life, but are in his heart; and he has them inscribed upon himself, because they are in his charity, and thus in his very life; besides other things of a dogmatic nature which he in like manner knows from charity alone; for he lives according to a conscience of what is right. The right and the truth which he cannot thus understand and explore, he believes simply or from simplicity of heart to be so because the Lord has said so; and he who so believes does not do wrong, even though what he thus accepts is not true in itself, but apparent truth.

[5] As for example, if anyone believes that the Lord is angry, punishes, tempts, and the like. Or if he holds that the bread and wine in the Holy Supper are significative, or that the flesh and blood are present in some way in which they explain it-it is of no consequence whether they say the one thing or the other, although there are few who think about this matter, or even if they do think about it, provided this is done from a simple heart, because they have been so instructed, and nevertheless live in charity: these, when they hear that the bread and wine in the internal sense signify the Lord’s love toward the whole human race, and the things which are of this love, and man’s reciprocal love to the Lord and the neighbor, they forthwith believe, and rejoice that it is so. Not so they who are in doctrinal things and not in charity; these contend about everything, and condemn all whoever they may be that do not say (they call it “believe”) as they do. From all this everyone can see that love to the Lord and charity toward the neighbor are the internal of the church.