3703. And He said, I am Jehovah the God of Abraham thy father. That this signifies the Lord, that from Him that good comes, is evident from the fact that Jehovah is the Divine being itself of the Lord, who from the Divine good is called “the God of Abraham.” (That Abraham represents the Lord as to the Divine good, may be seen above, n. 2172, 2198.) And because the Divine good is that from which are all celestial and spiritual goods, and derivatively all truths also, it is here said “Abraham the father,” and indeed, “thy father,” that is, the father of Jacob, when yet Isaac was his father. That in the internal sense “father” signifies good, is because good is that from which all things are in both general and particular, and truth is that through which they all come into manifestation; thus from the marriage of good and truth. Heaven itself, which consists of nothing else than the Divine marriage of good and truth, is from the Divine marriage of good and truth and of truth and good in the Lord.

[2] In universal nature also all things both in general and in particular have relation to good and truth; for there are represented in nature the celestial and spiritual goods and truths of heaven; and in heaven are represented the Divine goods and truths of the Lord. From this it is evident that good is like a father, and truth is like a mother; and that therefore in the internal sense of the Word by “father” is signified good, and by “mother,” truth, and indeed the good and truth from which the lower or derived goods and truths have their birth, which are relatively as daughters and sons, and therefore in the Word are also called “daughters” and “sons” (n. 489-491, 2362). They are also relatively as brothers and sisters, as grandchildren and great-grandchildren, as sons-in-law, mothers-in-law, and daughters-in-law; in a word, as kinships and connections in every degree, and this from the marriage of good, which is the father, with truth which is the mother. (That in the heavens all things in general and particular are circumstanced according to the relationships of love and faith in the Lord, or what is the same, of good and truth, may be seen above, n. 685, 917, 2739, 3612; and that on this account the most ancient people compared each and all things to marriage, n. 54, 55; see also n. 718, 747, 1432, 2508, 2516, 2524, 2556)

[3] That in the internal sense of the Word “father” signifies good, may be seen from many passages, as from the following.

In Isaiah:

Hearken to Me ye that regard righteousness, ye that seek Jehovah; look unto the rock whence ye were hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence ye were digged; look unto Abraham your father, and unto Sarah that bare you; for when he was but one I called him, and I blessed him, and I will multiply him. For Jehovah will comfort Zion; He will comfort all her waste places, and will make her wilderness like Eden, and her solitude like the garden of Jehovah (Isaiah 51:1-3); where the subject is the Lord and His advent, as is evident from each particular; and who as to Divine truth is called a “rock” and a “pit”; and as to Divine good, “Abraham the father.” And as the Divine marriage of good and truth is represented by Abraham and Sarah (see n. 1468, 1901, 1965, 1989, 2011, 2063, 2065, 2172, 2173, 2198, 2507, 2833, 2836, 2904, 3245, 3251, 3305), it is said, “Abraham your father and Sarah who bare you.” For this reason also it is said that they should “look unto the rock and unto the pit,” and also “to Abraham their father and unto Sarah”; and this is why there at once follow the words, “Jehovah will comfort Zion,” whereby is meant the celestial church (n. 2362), and “He will comfort her waste places, and make her wilderness like Eden, and her solitude like the garden of Jehovah.”

[4] The same is signified by “Abraham” in other passages of the Word where he is called “father,” as in John:

Jesus said, I speak that which I have seen with My father; and ye do the things which ye have seen with your father. They answered and said unto Him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham’s sons ye would do the works of Abraham; Ye do the works of your father (John 8:38-39, (John 8:30, 41).

And in Matthew:

Think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father; for I say unto you that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. And lo the axe is laid unto the root of the trees; therefore every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit shall be hewn down, and cast into the fire (Matthew 3:9-10).

And in Luke:

When the poor man Lazarus died, he was carried up by the angels into Abraham’s bosom; and the rich man also died, and was buried; and when he was in hell he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom; and he cried and said, Father Abraham have mercy on me; I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father’s house (Luke 16:22-24, 27).

In these passages it is evident that Abraham is not meant, but the Lord as to Divine good. (That Abraham is unknown in heaven, and that when mention is made of him from the Word, the Lord is understood, may be seen above, n. 1834, 1876, 1989, 3305)

[5] That in the internal sense “father” signifies good, may be seen from the following passages.

In Moses:

Honor thy father and thy mother; that thy days may be long upon the land which Jehovah thy God giveth thee (Exodus 20:12; Deuteronomy 5:16).

That this precept, like the other precepts of the Decalogue, is true in both senses; and that in the internal sense “honoring father and mother” is to love good and truth, and in good and truth the Lord, may be seen above (n. 2609, 3690). That “days upon the land” are the consequent states of good in the Lord’s kingdom, is evident from the signification of “days,” as being states (n. 23, 487, 488, 493, 893, 2788); and from the signification of “Canaan,” which is here “the land,” as being the Lord’s kingdom (see n. 1607, 3038, 3481); and that “to belong” is predicated of good (n. 1613).

[6] Because of this signification of “father and mother,” in the representative Jewish Church many laws were enacted concerning parents and sons, in all of which in the internal sense is signified good and truth, and in the supreme sense the Lord as to Divine good and Divine truth. As in Moses:

And he that smiteth his father, or his mother, dying he shall die. And he that curseth his father or his mother, dying he shall die (Exodus 21:15, 17).

Again:

Every man that hath cursed his father, or his mother, killing he shall be killed; he that hath cursed his father or his mother, his bloods shall be upon him (Leviticus 20:9).

And again:

Cursed be he that setteth light by his father or his mother: and all the people shall say Amen (Deuteronomy 27:16).

In Ezekiel:

Behold the princes of Israel, every man according to his arm, have been in thee to shed blood; in thee have they set light by father and mother (Ezekiel 22:6-7).

In Moses:

If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son, who will not obey the voice of his father, or the voice of his mother, and though they chasten him, will not obey them; then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him, and bring him out unto the elders of the city, and unto the gate of his place; and all the men of his city shall stone him with stones, that he die (Deuteronomy 21:18-19, 21).

[7] In all these passages, in the sense of the letter, by “father and mother” are meant father and mother; but in the internal sense good and truth; and in the supreme sense the Lord as to Divine good and Divine truth; as also the Lord Himself teaches in Matthew:

Jesus stretched forth His hand upon His disciples, and said, Behold My mother and My brethren; for whosoever shall do the will of My Father who is in the heavens, the same is My brother, and sister, and mother (Matthew 12:49).

And again:

Be not ye called Master; for one is your Master, Christ; but all ye are brethren. And call ye not your father on earth; for one is your Father, who is in the heavens (Matthew 23:8-9

it is not here forbidden to be called master, and to be called father on earth; but what is forbidden is to acknowledge at heart any other father than the Lord; that is, when mention is made of “master” and “father,” the Lord is to be understood, who in the supreme sense is represented by them; according to what was said above (n. 3702) concerning the most ancient people who were celestial men-that whatever they perceived on earth was to them a means of thinking concerning the Lord.

[8] The like is implied in what the Lord spake to one of His disciples, who said:

Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father; but Jesus said unto him, Follow Me, and let the dead bury their dead (Matthew 8:21-22);

for relatively to the Father in heaven, or to the Lord, a father on earth is as the dead to the living. Thus the very law concerning honoring parents is as it were dead, unless in it there are honor, worship, and love to the Lord; for that law descends from this Divine law; and hence comes that which is really living in that law; wherefore the Lord said, “Follow Me, and let the dead bury their dead.” The same is also signified by what Elijah said to Elisha:

Elijah passed by Elisha, and cast his mantle upon him. And he left the oxen, and ran after Elijah, and said, Let me, I pray thee, kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow thee. And he said unto him, Go back again; for what have I done to thee? (1 Kings 19:19-20).

That by Elijah was represented the Lord, may be seen above

(preface to chapter 18 and n. 2762).

[9] In Malachi:

Behold I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of Jehovah come; and he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the sons, and the heart of the sons to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse (Malachi 4:5-6).

In Luke, the angel said to Zacharias concerning his son John:

And he shall go before His face, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the sons (Luke 1:17);

Here it is manifest that by “fathers” and “sons” are not meant fathers and sons, but the goods and truths of the church, which the Lord was about to restore.

[10] In Malachi:

Jehovah will be magnified from over the border of Israel. A son shall honor his father, and a servant his master. If then I be a father, where is Mine honor? If I be a master, where is My fear? (Malachi 1:5-6); where “father” denotes those who are in the good of the church; and “master,” those who are in the truth of the church; “father” manifestly denoting the Lord as to Divine good; and “master,” or “lord,” as to Divine truth.

[11] In David:

My father and my mother have forsaken me, but Jehovah taketh me up (Psalms 27:10); where “father and mother” denote good and truth, which are said to have “forsaken” man when he takes note that of himself he is not able to do anything good, or to know anything true: that it is not to be understood as if David was forsaken by his father and mother is manifest.

[12] Again:

Thou art far fairer than the sons of men; the king’s daughter is all glorious within; her clothing is inwrought with gold. Instead of thy fathers shall be thy sons, whom thou shalt make princes in all the earth (Psalms 45:2, 13, 16); where the Lord is treated of; “instead of thy fathers shall be thy sons,” denotes that Divine truths shall be as Divine goods; the “king’s daughter” signifies the love of truth; the “clothing inwrought with gold” signifies the quality of this truth derived from good. Inasmuch as the subject here is the Lord and His Divine Human, as is evident from the whole psalm and the particulars in it, it is evident that each and all things therein have a like predication; thus that by the “king’s daughter” is not meant a king’s daughter, nor that her clothing was inwrought with gold, nor that instead of fathers should be her sons, nor that these should be princes in all the earth; but that Divine celestial and spiritual things are what are signified by each expression. (That “daughter” is affection or love, may be seen above, n. 490, 491, 2362; that “king” is Divine truth,, n. 1672, 1728, 2015, 2069, 3009; that “gold” is good, n. 113, 1551, 1552; that “inwrought” is predicated of natural memory-knowledge, n. 2831; here therefore of Divine natural truth; that “clothing” is such truths as invest good, n. 297, 2576; that “sons who are instead of fathers” signify truths of good, in this case Divine truths as Divine goods, n. 264, 489, 491, 533, 1147, 1729, 1733, 2159, 2623, 2803, 2813; that “princes in the whole earth” are the primary things of the Lord’s kingdom and church; that “princes” are primary things, n. 1482, 2089; that “earth” is the Lord’s kingdom and church, n. 1413, 1607, 1733, 1850, 2117, 2118, 3355)

[13] In Moses:

Jehovah had a delight in thy fathers to love them, and He chose their seed after them, even you out of all peoples, as at this day. Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and no longer harden your neck (Deuteronomy 10:15-16); where in the internal sense “fathers” denote the Ancient and Most Ancient Churches, which were so called from the love of good and truth in which they were; from the love of good the most ancient people who were celestial men, and from the love of truth the ancient, who were spiritual men. Their goods and truths in the church are what are called the “seed which God chose.” That Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and his twelve sons are not the fathers here meant, and that the Israelitish and Jewish people are not the seed, is very evident; but this is said of them and to them in order that the internal sense may have some outward form intelligible to man.

[14] In Isaiah:

The child shall behave himself proudly against the old man, and the base against the honorable. When a man shall take hold of his brother in the house of his father, saying, Thou hast raiment, thou shalt be a prince unto us, he shall say, In my house is neither bread nor raiment, ye shall not make me a prince of the people (Isaiah 3:5-7); where in the internal sense the perverted state of the church is treated of, when truth is no longer acknowledged as truth, and it is not known what good is. A “man taking hold of his brother in the house of his father” denotes the acknowledging of everything to be good; “raiment” denotes truth (n. 1073, 2576); “prince,” the primary of doctrine therefrom (n. 1482, 2089); “there is no bread nor raiment in my house” denotes that there was neither good nor truth (that “bread” signifies good, see above, n. 276, 680, 3478; that “raiment” signifies truth, n. 297, 2576).

[15] From the representation of good and truth by father and mother, and also by daughters and sons, there were in the representative churches numerous laws which had from this what was Divine in them; as these which follow:

And the daughter of a priest, if she profane herself by committing whoredom, she profaneth her father, she shall be burned with fire (Leviticus 21:9); where the “daughter of a priest” denotes the affection of good; “father,” the good from which this affection is; “committing whoredom” denotes to profane good. (What is meant by “committing whoredom” may be seen above, n. 2466, 2729, 3399; and what by “profaning,” n. 1008, 1010, 1059, 2051, 3398, 3399.) Also, that if the daughter of a priest be a widow, or be divorced, and she has no seed, she shall return to the house of her father, as in her youth, and shall eat of the bread of her father; there shall no stranger eat thereof (Leviticus 22:13).

[16] Likewise this law:

When thou shalt see among the captives a wife of beautiful form, and thou hast a desire unto her, to take her to thee for a woman, then thou shalt bring her into the midst of thine house, and she shall shave her head, and pare her nails, and she shall put the raiment of her captivity from off her, and shall sit in thine house, and bewail her father and her mother a month of days; and after that thou shalt go in unto her, and shalt know her, and she shall be to thee for a woman (Deuteronomy 21:11-13).

All things in this law in both general and particular are representative of natural truth, in that after it has been purified from falsities it is adopted by good; such truth is signified by a “wife in captivity, beautiful in form”; purification from falsities is signified by “bringing her into the midst of the house, shaving her head, paring her nails, putting off the raiment of her captivity, and bewailing her father and mother”; adoption is signified by “afterwards going in unto her, knowing her, and taking her for a woman.”

[17] The laws we read of in the Word relating to marriages, that these were to be contracted within the tribe and the family; and also the laws of inheritances, that these were not to pass from tribe to tribe, also had their origin from the same source, namely, from the celestial and spiritual marriage in the Lord’s kingdom, or from the marriage of good and truth, which two are signified by “father and mother”; and in like manner the laws enacted concerning the degrees of consanguinity allowed and forbidden: each law in the Word that bears on these matters has reference inwardly to the law of consociation and conjunction of good and truth in heaven, and to the consociations of evil and falsity in hell, which are separate from the former. (Concerning the degrees allowed and forbidden see Leviticus 20; concerning inheritances, that they should not pass from tribe to tribe, and concerning marriages that they should be contracted within the tribe, see Numbers 27, verses 7-9; and in other places; that in the heavens all things in general and particular are disposed according to the consanguinities and affinities of good and truth, see above, n. 685, 917, 2739, 3612)

[18] Because the Israelitish people represented the Lord’s kingdom in the heavens, and thus the heavenly order there, it was also commanded that they should be distinguished according to tribes, and according to families, and according to the houses of their fathers (Numbers 26); and also that according to this order they should measure out the camp around the tent of the congregation, and likewise that they should journey according to the same order, as is written in Moses:

Every man by his own standard, with the ensigns of their fathers’ houses, over against the tent of the congregation shall the sons of Israel measure out the camp; and so also were they to go forward (Numbers 2:2, 34).

And therefore:

When Balaam saw Israel dwelling according to their tribes, the spirit of God came upon him, and he uttered an enunciation, saying, How goodly are thy tabernacles, O Jacob, thy habitations, O Israel; as the valleys are they planted; as gardens by the river’s side (Numbers 24:5-6, etc.).

In this prophecy neither Jacob nor Israel is meant, but the Lord’s kingdom in the heavens, and His church in the lands, which were represented by that order in which Balaam then saw them, as is manifest from the words therein.

[19] From what has been said it may also be known what is signified in the internal sense of the Word by “orphans,” that is by those who are without a father; namely, those who are in a state of innocence and charity, and desire to know and to do what is good, and are not able. In such a state especially are those out of the church, of whom the Lord takes care, and in the other life adopts as sons; and because these are signified by “orphans,” therefore when these are mentioned in the Word, in many passages there are also mentioned “sojourners” and “widows;” for by “sojourners” are signified those who are being instructed in goods and truths (n. 1463); and by “widows” those who are in a state of good and not so much in truth, and those who are in a state of truth and not so much in good, and yet desire to be therein. Inasmuch as by these three terms— “orphans,” “sojourners,” and “widows”—somewhat similar is signified in a series, therefore as before said, in many passages they are mentioned together (see Deuteronomy 14:29; 16:14; 24:17, 19; Jeremiah 7:6; 22:3; Ezekiel 22:7; Zech. 7:10; Psalms 9 4:6; 146:9). From what has been said it may now be seen what is signified in the genuine sense by “father,” namely, good; and that in the supreme sense it signifies the Lord.

[20] But as most expressions in the Word have also an opposite sense, so also has “father;” and in this sense it signifies evil; and in like manner “mother,” which in the genuine sense signifies truth, but in the opposite sense falsity. That this is so, may be seen from the following passages.

In David:

The iniquity of his fathers shall be remembered with Jehovah; and the sin of his mother shall not be blotted out (Psalms 109:14).

Again:

They turned back and dealt treacherously, like their fathers; they were turned aside like a deceitful bow (Psalms 78:57).

In Moses:

And they that are left of you shall pine away in their iniquity, in your enemies’ lands; and also in the iniquities of their fathers shall they pine away with them (Leviticus 26:39).

In Isaiah:

Prepare ye slaughter for his sons, for the iniquity of their fathers, that they rise not up and possess the earth, and fill the face of the earth with cities (Isaiah 14:21).

Again:

I will recompense your own iniquities, and the iniquities of your fathers together (Isaiah 65:6-7).

[21] In Jeremiah:

The houses of Israel are ashamed; they, their kings, their princes, and their priests, and their prophets; who say to wood, Thou art my father; and to stone, Thou hast begotten me; for they have turned their neck unto Me, and not the face (Jeremiah 2:26-27).

Again:

I will lay stumbling-blocks before this people; and the fathers and the sons together shall stumble against them; the neighbor and his companion; and they shall perish (Jeremiah 6:21).

Again:

The sons gather wood, and the fathers kindle a fire, and the women knead the dough, to make cakes to the queen of heaven (Jeremiah 7:18).

And in Ezekiel:

I will do in thee that which I have not done, and whereunto I will not do any more the like, because of all thine abominations. Therefore the fathers shall eat their sons, and the sons shall eat their fathers; and I will execute judgments in thee, and the whole remnant of thee will I scatter unto all the winds (Ezekiel 5:9-10);

speaking of the profanation of what is holy. Again:

Thus saith the Lord Jehovah unto Jerusalem, Thy tradings and thy nativity are of the land of the Canaanite; thy father was an Amorite, and thy mother a Hittite (Ezekiel 16:3).

[22] In Matthew:

The brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father his son; and the children shall rise up against parents, and shall put them to death. And ye shall be hated of all men for My name’s sake. I came to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a man’s foes shall be they of his own household. He that loveth father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me and he that loveth son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me (Matthew 10:21-22, 35-37; Luke 12:49, 52-53).

Everyone that hath left houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or fields, for My name’s sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and shall inherit eternal life (Matthew 19:29; Luke 18:29-30; Mark 10:29-30).

In Luke:

If any man cometh unto Me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own soul also, he cannot be My disciple (Luke 14:26).

[23] In Mark:

And the brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father his children; and the children shall rise up against their parents, and shall put them to death; for ye shall be hated of all men for My name’s sake (Mark 13:12-13; Luke 21:16-17);where the consummation of the age, and the state of the church, perverted as to good and truth, is described; in that evil will rise up against truth, and falsity against good. That in the opposite sense by “father” is signified evil, is manifest from the passages already adduced, and also from this in John:

Jesus said unto them, If God were your father, ye would love Me; for I went forth and am come from God. Ye are of your father the devil, and the desire of your father it is your will to do; he was a murderer from the beginning, and stood not in the truth, because the truth is not in him; when he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own; for he is a liar, and the father thereof (John 8:42, 44).

3305. And he called his name Jacob. That this signifies the doctrine of truth of the natural, is evident from the signification of “calling a name,” or of “calling by name,” as being quality (concerning which see just above, n. 3302). The quality that is represented by Jacob is the doctrine of truth of the natural, as may be seen from the representation of Esau, as being the good of life of the truth of the natural (n. 3300), and from many places in the Word, where he is named. There are two things which constitute the natural, as there are two that constitute the rational, nay, that constitute the whole man, one of which is of life, and the other of doctrine. That which is of life belongs to the will, while that which is of doctrine belongs to the understanding. The former is called good, and the latter truth. This good is that which is represented by Esau, and the truth by Jacob; or what is the same, the good of life of the truth of the natural is that which is represented by Esau, and the doctrine of truth of the natural is that which is represented by Jacob. Whether you say the good of life of the truth of the natural and the doctrine of truth of the natural, or those who are in these things, it is the same; for the good of life and the doctrine of truth cannot exist apart from their subject. If they have no subject they are a kind of abstract affair which nevertheless has regard to the man in whom this may be. Wherefore by “Jacob” are here signified those who are in the doctrine of truth of the natural.

[2] They who abide in the mere sense of the letter believe that by “Jacob” in the Word is meant all that people which was descended from Jacob, and for this reason they apply to that people all things that have been said historically and prophetically concerning Jacob. But the Word is Divine chiefly in this respect, that all things in it both in general and in particular do not regard one nation or one people, but the universal human race; namely, that which is, which has been, and which will be; and also that which is still more universal, namely, the Lord’s kingdom in the heavens; and in the supreme sense, the Lord Himself. It is for this reason that the Word is Divine. If it had regard merely to one nation, then it would be human, and there would be nothing more of the Divine in it than there was of the holy of worship with that nation; and everyone may know that there was none of this with the people called “Jacob;” from which it is evident that by “Jacob” in the Word is not meant Jacob, and also that by “Israel” is not meant Israel; for almost everywhere in the prophecies, when Jacob is named, Israel is named also, and no one can know what is specifically meant by the one, and what by the other, except from the sense which lies more deeply concealed and contains within it the arcana of heaven.

[3] That by “Jacob” therefore in the internal sense is signified the doctrine of truth of the natural; or what is the same, those who are in this doctrine, of whatever nation they may be; and that in the supreme sense the Lord is meant is evident from the following passages.

In Luke:

The angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary, for thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and shalt bring forth a Son, and shalt call His name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God shall give unto Him the throne of His father David; and He shall reign over the house of Jacob forever; and of His kingdom there shall be no end (Luke 1:30-33).

That here by the “house of Jacob” is not meant the Jewish nation or people, can be seen by all, for the Lord’s kingdom was not over that people, but over all in the universe who have faith in Him, and who from faith are in charity. Hence it is evident that by “Jacob” as here named by the angel is not meant the people of Jacob; and consequently neither in other places, by the “seed of Jacob,” the “sons of Jacob,” the “land of Jacob,” the “inheritance of Jacob,” the “king of Jacob,” and the “God of Jacob,” which expressions so often occur in the Word of the Old Testament, are these intended.

[4] The case is the same in respect to “Israel” as in Matthew:

The angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt; that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called My Son (Matthew 2:13, 15);

and in the Prophet it is said:

When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called My son out of Egypt (Hos. 11:1).

That in this passage “Israel” is the Lord is very evident; and yet from the sense of the letter it cannot be known but that the “child Israel” means the earliest descendants of Jacob, who came into Egypt and were afterwards called out thence. It is the same in other passages where “Jacob” and “Israel” are named, although this does not appear from the sense of the letter, as in Isaiah:

Hear O Jacob my servant; and Israel, whom I have chosen; thus saith Jehovah who made thee, and formed thee from the womb, who will help thee; Fear not O Jacob my servant, and thou Jeshurun whom I have chosen; for I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and streams upon the dry ground; I will pour My spirit upon thy seed, and My blessing upon thine offspring; this one shall say, I am Jehovah’s; and this shall call himself by the name of Jacob; and that one shall write with his hand unto Jehovah, and surname himself by the name of Israel (Isaiah 44:1-3, 5); where “Jacob” and “Israel” evidently denote the Lord; and the “seed,” and “offspring of Jacob,” those who are in faith in Him.

[5] In the prophecy concerning the sons of Israel in Moses:

Joseph shall sit in the strength of his bow, and the arms of his hands shall be made strong by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob; from thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel (Genesis 49:24); where also the “Mighty One of Jacob” and the “stone of Israel” clearly denote the Lord.

In Isaiah:

My glory will I not give to another; attend unto Me, O Jacob, and Israel My called, I am He; I am the first, I also am the last (Isaiah 48:11-12);

here also “Jacob” and “Israel” signify the Lord.

In Ezekiel:

I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his companions, and I will add them upon him with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in My hand. I will take the sons of Israel from among the nations, whither they be gone, and will gather them from every side, and bring them upon their own land; and I will make them one nation in the land, upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all, and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms anymore at all. My servant David shall be king over them, and they all shall have one shepherd. And they shall dwell on the land that I have given unto Jacob My servant, wherein your fathers dwelt; and they shall dwell therein, they and their sons, and their sons, forever; and David My servant shall be prince to them forever: I will make a covenant of peace with them, it shall be an everlasting covenant with them; and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set My sanctuary in the midst of them forevermore. My tabernacle also shall be with them; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. And the nations shall know that I Jehovah do sanctify Israel, when My sanctuary is in the midst of them for evermore (Ezekiel 37:19, 21-22, 24-28);

here again it is clearly manifest that by “Joseph,” “Ephraim,” “Judah,” “Israel,” “Jacob,” and “David,” are not meant these persons, but in the supreme sense Divine spiritual things which are in the Lord, and which are the Lord’s in His kingdom and church. That David was not to be, as is said, their king and prince forever, everyone may know; but that by “David” is meant the Lord may be seen above (n. 1888). It may also be known that Israel will not be gathered together from wherever they have been dispersed, and will not be sanctified, and the sanctuary placed in the midst of them forever, as is said; but this is to be with those who in the representative sense are signified by “Israel;” and who, as is known, are all the faithful.

[6] In Micah:

Assembling I will assemble O Jacob, all of thee; gathering I will gather the remnant of Israel; I will put them together as the sheep of Bozrah (Micah 2:12); where the meaning is similar.

In Isaiah:

Jacob shall cause to take root those who come; Israel shall blossom and bud; and they shall fill the face of the world with produce (Isaiah 27:6); where also the meaning is similar. In the same:

Thus saith Jehovah who redeemed Abraham, to the house of Jacob; Jacob shall not now be ashamed, neither shall his face now wax pale; for when he seeth his children, the work of My hands, in the midst of him, they shall sanctify My name; yea, they shall sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and shall stand in awe of the God of Israel. They also that err in spirit shall know intelligence (Isaiah 29:22-24).

In the same:

Thus saith Jehovah to His anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him, and I will loose the loins of kings; to open the doors before him, and the gates shall not be shut; I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight; I will break in pieces the doors of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron; I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I am Jehovah, who am called by thy name, the God of Israel, for Jacob My servant’s sake, and Israel Mine elect. I have called thee by thy name, I have surnamed thee when thou didst not know Me (Isaiah 45:1-4); where also the Lord is plainly treated of.

In Micah:

In the last days it shall come to pass that the mountain of the house of Jehovah shall be established as the head of the mountains; and many nations shall go, and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of Jehovah, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths; for out of Zion shall go forth the doctrine, and the Word of Jehovah from Jerusalem (Micah 4:1-2

In David:

Jehovah loveth the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob; glorious things shall be preached in thee, O city of God (Psalms 87:2-3

In Jeremiah:

They shall serve Jehovah their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up unto them. And thou, fear thou not, O Jacob My servant, saith Jehovah; neither be dismayed, O Israel; for lo I will save thee from afar (Jeremiah 30:9-10).

In Isaiah:

Listen O isles unto me; and hearken ye peoples from far; Jehovah hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath He made mention of my name; and He said unto me, Thou art My servant Israel, in whom I will be made glorious (Isaiah 49:1, 3).

Again:

Then shalt thou delight thyself in Jehovah, and I will make thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and I will feed thee with the heritage of Jacob (Isaiah 58:14).

Again:

I will bring forth a seed out of Jacob, and out of Judah an inheritor of My mountains, that Mine elect may possess it, and My servants shall dwell there (Isaiah 65:9).

[7] In the supreme sense of all these passages by “Jacob” and “Israel” is meant the Lord; and in the representative sense the Lord’s spiritual kingdom, and the church which is a church from the doctrine of truth and the life of good. By “Jacob” are meant those who are in the externals of this church; and by “Israel” those who are in its internals. From these and many other passages it is evident that by “Jacob” is nowhere meant Jacob, neither by “Israel,” Israel; and in the same way, by “Isaac” is not meant Isaac, nor by “Abraham,” Abraham, where they are named; as in Matthew:

Many shall come from the east and the west, and shall recline with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of the heavens (Matthew 8:11).

In Luke:

Ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets in the kingdom of God (Luke 13:28).

and again:

Lazarus was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom (Luke 16:20, 22).

For in heaven they know nothing of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and when these words are read by man, the angels perceive nought but the Lord as to the Divine and the Divine Human; and by “reclining with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,” they perceive nought but being with the Lord; and by being “in Abraham’s bosom,” nought but being in the Lord. But it was thus said because at that time man was so far removed from internal things that he did not know and was not willing to know otherwise than that all things in the Word are according to the letter; and when the Lord spoke with men according to the letter, it was that they might receive faith, and also that there might even then be an internal sense within, by which there could be the conjunction of man with Himself. This being the case, it may appear what is signified in the Word of the Old Testament by the “God of Jacob,” and by the “Holy One of Israel,” namely, the Lord Himself. (That the “God of Jacob” is the Lord, see 2 Samuel 23:1; Isaiah 2:3; 41:21; Micah 4:2; Psalms 20:1; 46:7 75:9; 76:6; 81:1, 4; 8 4:8; 94:7 114:7; 132:2; 146:5. That the “Holy One of Israel” is the Lord, see Isaiah 1:4; 5:19, 24; 10:20; 12:6; 17:7 29:19; 30:11-12, 15; 31:1; 3 7:23; 41:14, 16, 20; 43:3, 14; 45:11; 47:4; 48:17; 49:7; 54:5; 55:5; 60:14; Jeremiah 50:29; Ezekiel 39:7; Psalms 71:22; 78:41; 89:18)