72. (Verse 16) And he had in his right hand seven stars. That this signifies all the knowledges (cognitiones) of good and truth from Him, is evident from the signification of having in His right hand, as denoting from Himself; for hand signifies power, and hence whatever pertains to it, and thus also whatever is from it, the reason why the right hand is mentioned is because it signifies the power of good by means of truth (that the hand signifies power may be seen, Arcana Coelestia 878, 3091, 4931-4937, 6947, 10019; and therefore whatever pertains to it, and is from it, n. 9133, 10019, 10405; that the right hand signifies the power of good by truth, see n. 9604, 9736, 10061; and that the right hand of Jehovah signifies the Divine power of the Lord, thus omnipotence, see n, 3387, 4592, 4933, 7518, 7673, 8281, 9133, 10019); and from the signification of stars, as being the knowledges (cognitiones) of good and truth (concerning which in what follows); and from the signification of seven, as denoting all (concerning which see above, n. 20, 24).

[2] That stars signify the knowledges (cognitiones) of good and truth, thus goods and truths, is from appearances in the spiritual world; for there the Lord is seen as a Sun, and the angels from a distance as stars. The reason why the angels are thus seen, is from the reception of light from the Lord as a Sun, thus from the reception of Divine truth, which is from the Lord; for this is the light of heaven. This is why it is said in Daniel,

"They that be intelligent shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that justify many, as the stars for ever" (12:3).

They that are intelligent, are those who are in truths, and those that justify many, are those who are in good (as may be seen in the work, Heaven and Hell 346-348).

[3] When it is known that the sun signifies the Lord as to Divine love, thus also Divine love from the Lord, and that stars signify the truths of the church, and the knowledges (cognitiones) thereof, it can also be known what is signified in the Word, where it is said that the sun shall be darkened, and that the stars shall withdrawn their shining, and also that they shall fall from heaven; and it may also be seen what stars signify when mentioned in other parts of the Word, as in the following passages in Isaiah:

I will make "the earth a waste, that he may destroy the sinners from it; the stars of the heavens and the constellations thereof shall not shine with their light; the sun shall be covered with darkness in his rising, and the moon shall not give forth the splendour of her light" (13:9, 10).

The vastation of the church is there treated of, which takes place when there is no longer any good of love and truth of faith; the earth which shall be laid waste is the church (as may be seen above, n. 29).

[4] In Ezekiel:

"I will cover the heavens when I shall extinguish thee, and will darken the stars; the sun will I cover with a cloud, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine; all the luminaries of light will I darken over thee, and I will give darkness over the land" (32:7, 8).

Darkness over the land denotes falsities in the church. In Joel:

"The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining" (2:10, 11; 3:15).

In Matthew:

In the consummation of the age "after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken" (24:29; Mark 13:24).

In Daniel:

From one of the horns of the he-goat "went forth a little horn, and it increased greatly towards the south, and towards the east, and towards glory; and it increased towards the host of the heavens, and it cast down of the host and of the stars, and trampled upon them; yea, even to the prince of the host it lifted up itself" (8:9, 10, 11).

Here, by the host of heaven are meant the goods and truths of the church in their whole extent (as may be seen, Arcana Coelestia 3448, 7236, 7988, 8019), specifically those which combat against falsities (see n. 7277); hence Jehovah is called, Jehovah Zebaoth, that is, of hosts (see n. 3448, 7988).

In the Apocalypse:

The dragon, with his tail "drew the third part of the stars of heaven to the earth" (12:4).

Stars also in that passage denote the goods and truths of the church, and the knowledges (cognitiones) thereof; the third part denotes the greater part; but what is signified by the dragon will be seen in the following pages.

Again:

"The stars of heaven fell to the earth" (Apoc. 6:13).

Again:

"A star fell from heaven unto the earth" (Apoc. 9:1).

Again:

"A great star fell from heaven burning as a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters" (Apoc. 8:10).

Because stars signify the goods and truths of the church and the knowledges (cognitiones) thereof, by their falling from heaven is signified that they perish.

In David:

Jehovah "counteth the number of the stars, he calleth them all by names" (Psalms 147:4)

and in the same:

"Praise ye Jehovah, sun and moon; praise him all ye stars of light" (Psalms 148:3).

In the book of Judges:

"The kings came, they fought from heaven; the stars fought in their courses" (5:19, 20).

Because the angels in the spiritual heaven shine as stars, and because all truth and good belonging to them are from the Lord, therefore the Lord, as He is called an angel, is also called a star; as in Moses:

"A star shall arise (orietur) out of Jacob, and a sceptre shall rise (surget) out of Israel" (Numbers 24:17).

And in the Apocalypse:

Jesus, "the bright and morning star" (22:16).

It is therefore clear why it was that the wise men from the east saw a star, and followed it, and that it stood where Jesus was born (Matthew 2:1, 2, 9).

From these considerations it can now be known what is signified by the seven stars which were seen in the right hand of the Son of man, who is the Lord as to the Divine Human (as may be seen above, n. 63).

4585. 'They travelled on from Bethel, and there was still a stretch of land to go to Ephrath' means the spiritual of the celestial at this point. This is clear from the meaning of 'travelling on from Bethel' as a continuation of the progress of the Divine from the Divine Natural - 'travelling on' meaning a continuation, see 4554, and here in the highest sense a continuation of the progress made by the Divine, while 'Bethel' means the Divine Natural, 4559, 4560; from the meaning of 'a stretch of land to go' as that which exists in between, dealt with below; and from the meaning of 'Ephrath' as the spiritual of the celestial within the initial state, dealt with below where Bethlehem is the subject. ¹ 'Bethlehem' means the spiritual of the celestial within the new state, and this is why the phrase 'Ephrath, that is, Bethlehem' is used in verse 19 below.

[2] In these verses progress made by the Lord's Divine towards aspects more interior is the subject, for when the Lord made His Human Divine His progress involved a similar order to that employed by Him when He makes man new through regeneration. That is to say, it was a progression from external things to more interior ones, and so from truth as this exists in the ultimate degree of order to good which is more interior and is called spiritual good, and from this to celestial good. But ideas about these things do not come within the mental grasp of anyone unless he knows what the external man is and what the internal man is, and that the former is distinct and separate from the latter, though the two seem to be one and the same while a person lives in the body. Nor do those ideas come within his grasp unless he knows that the natural constitutes the external man, and the rational the internal man, and above all unless he knows what the spiritual is, and what the celestial is.

[3] These matters, it is true, have been explained several times already. Even so, those who have not previously had any idea concerning them - for the reason that they have not had any desire to know the things which belong to eternal life - are incapable of having any such idea. These people say, 'What is the internal man? How can it be anything different from the external man?' They also say, 'What is the natural, or the rational? Are these not one and the same thing?' Then they ask, 'What is the spiritual and the celestial? Isn't this some new distinction? We've heard about the spiritual, but not that the celestial is something different'. But the fact of the matter is that these are people who have not previously acquired any idea of these matters. They have failed to do so either because the cares of the world and of the body occupy their whole thought and take away all desire to know anything else, or because they suppose that no one needs to know anything beyond what the common people are taught and that there is nothing to be gained if their thought goes any further. For these say, 'The world we see, but the next life we do not see. Maybe it exists, maybe it doesn't'. People like these push those ideas away from themselves, for at heart they reject them the moment they see them.

[4] All the same, because such ideas are contained in the internal sense of the Word, though they cannot be explained without suitable terms to depict them, and as no terms more suitable exist than 'natural' to express exterior things and 'rational' to express interior, or 'spiritual' to express matters of truth and 'celestial' matters of good, the use of words like these is unavoidable. For without the right words nothing can be described. Therefore so that some idea may be formed by those who have a desire to know what the spiritual of the celestial is, which 'Benjamin' represents and which 'Bethlehem' means, a brief reference to it must be made here. The subject so far in the highest sense has been the glorification of the Lord's Natural, and in the relative sense the regeneration of man's natural. It was shown above, in 4286, that 'Jacob' represented the external man of one who belongs to the Church, and 'Israel' his internal man, thus that 'Jacob' represented the exterior aspect of the natural and 'Israel' the interior aspect; for the spiritual man develops out of the natural, but the celestial man out of the rational. It was also shown that the Lord's glorification advanced, even as the regeneration of man advances, from external things to more interior ones, and that for the sake of such a representation Jacob received the name Israel.

[5] But now the subject is further progress towards aspects more interior still, that is, towards the rational, for as stated immediately above, the rational constitutes the internal man. The part which exists between the internal of the natural and the external of the rational is what the term 'the spiritual of the celestial' - meant by 'Ephrath' and 'Bethlehem', and represented by 'Benjamin' - is used to denote. This intermediate part is derived to some extent from the internal of the natural, meant by 'Israel', and to some extent from the external of the rational, meant by 'Joseph'; for that intermediate part must be derived to some extent from each one, or else it cannot serve as an intermediary. So that anyone who is already spiritual can be made celestial he must of necessity make progress by means of this intermediate part. Without it no advance to higher things is possible.

[6] The nature of the progress made therefore by means of this intermediate part is described here in the internal sense by the statements that Jacob went to Ephrath, and that Rachel gave birth to Benjamin there. From this it is evident that 'they travelled on from Bethel, and there was still a stretch of land to go to Ephrath' means a continuation of the progress of the Lord's Divine from the Divine Natural to the spiritual of the celestial, meant by 'Ephrath' and 'Bethlehem', and represented by 'Benjamin'. The spiritual of the celestial is the intermediate part about which something is said above; it is spiritual insofar as it is derived from the spiritual man, which regarded in itself is the interior natural man, and it is [celestial] insofar as it is derived from the celestial man, which regarded in itself is the rational man. 'Joseph' is the exterior rational man, and therefore he is spoken of as the celestial of the spiritual derived from the rational.

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