4235. And the angels of God ran to meet him. That this signifies enlightenment from good, is evident from the signification of the “angels of God,” as being something of the Lord; here, the Divine which was in the Lord; for in the Lord was the Divine Itself which is called the “Father.” The very essence of life (which in man is called the soul) was therefrom, and was Himself. This Divine is what is called in common speech the Divine nature, or rather the Lord’s Divine essence. (That something of the Divine of the Lord is signified in the Word by the “angels of God,” may be seen above, n. 1925, 2319, 2821, 3039, 4085.) By “the angels of God running to meet him” is signified in the proximate sense the influx of the Divine into the natural, and the consequent enlightenment; for all enlightenment is from the influx of the Divine. As the subject treated of is the inversion of state in the Lord’s natural, in order that good might be in the first place, and truth in the second; and as the subject treated of in this first part of the chapter is the implantation of truth in good therein (n. 4232), and as this could not be effected without enlightenment from the Divine, therefore the first thing treated of is the enlightenment effected by the good into which truth was to be implanted.

2821. The angel of Jehovah called unto him out of heaven. That this signifies consolation from the Divine Itself at that time, is evident from the signification of “calling out of heaven,” as being to console; as is also manifest from what immediately precedes and what next follows; and also from the signification of the “angel of Jehovah.” (That when angels are mentioned in the Word, by them is meant something in the Lord, and that it appears from the series what of the Lord is meant, may be seen above, n. 1925) We read in like manner concerning the Lord, that when He sustained the most grievous temptation in Gethsemane, an angel from heaven was seen by Him strengthening Him (Luke 22:43). By the “angel from heaven” here also in the internal sense is meant the Divine which was in Him.