41. Anything that is man's own has no life in it; and when depicted visually it looks like something hard as a bone and black. But anything that comes from the Lord does contain life. It has that which is spiritual and celestial within it, and when depicted visually it looks human and alive. It is perhaps incredible, but nevertheless absolutely true, that every expression, every idea, and every least thought of an angelic spirit is alive. In even the most detailed areas of his thought there is an affection that comes from the Lord, who is life itself. Consequently all that derives from the Lord has life within it, for it contains faith in Him, and is here meant by 'a living creature'. It then has the outward appearance of a body, meant here by that which is moving, or creeping. To man these matters remain arcana, but since the subject here is the living and moving creature, they ought at least to be mentioned here.

3514. 'And I will bless you before Jehovah' means conjunction thereby. This is clear from the meaning of 'I will bless you' as an alliance to its own life, dealt with above in 3504. Here, because the words 'I will bless you before Jehovah' are used, conjunction is meant. The expression 'alliance' is used to refer to the communication of the truth of the natural with the good of the rational, but the expression 'conjunction' to refer to the communication of the good of the natural with the good of the rational. For a parallelism exists between God and man so far as celestial things, which are forms of good, are concerned, but not where spiritual things, which are forms of truth, are concerned, see 1832.