8080. 'And all the firstborn of man among your sons you shall redeem, means that the truths of faith are not to be ascribed to the Lord, but forms of the good of faith. This is clear from the meaning of 'the firstborn' as faith, dealt with in 352, 2435, 6344, 7035, 8042; from the meaning of 'sons' as truths, dealt with in 489, 491, 533, 1147, 2623, 3373; and from the meaning of 'redeeming' as giving something else instead, as above in 8078, 8079. The fact that those truths of faith are not to be ascribed follows from the full message that is implied by these words, And all the firstborn of man among your sons you shall not make over, that is, you shall not sacrifice, but you shall redeem', 'not making over' being not ascribing, as above in 8074, 8078. From this it is evident that 'all the firstborn of man among your sons you shall redeem' means that the truths of faith are not to be ascribed to the Lord, but something else instead. Proof that this something else is the good of faith is provided by the consideration that generally 'the firstborn' means the good of faith, as above in 8042, 8043. But since it speaks here about 'the firstborn of man among his sons', the truth of faith is meant; for there is the truth of faith and there is the good of faith.

[2] Further proof that the good of faith, which is charity, is this something else which is to be ascribed to the Lord instead of the truths of faith is provided by the fact that the firstborn of the children of Israel were not accepted but the Levites instead; and the reason for this was that 'Levi' represented the good of faith, or charity, 3875, 4497, 4502, 4503. With regard to the acceptance of the tribe of Levi instead of all the firstborn, see Numbers 3:12-13, 40-end; 8:16-18. Even more proof that the good of faith is the something else to be ascribed to the Lord is provided by the consideration that faith without charity is not faith, 654, 724, 1162, 1176, 2231, 2343, 2349, 2429, 2839, 2982, 3146, 3325, 3849, 3865, 4368, 5351, 7039, 7082-7084, 7342 (end), 7950, and also by the consideration that the good of faith in actual fact occupies first place, while the truth of faith merely appears to do so, 3539, 3548, 3556, 3563, 3570, 3576, 3603, 3701, 4925, 4926, 4928, 4930, 4977, 5351, 6256, 6269, 6272, 6273, so that charity is the firstborn, 3325, 3494, 4925, 4926, 4928, 4930.

[3] The reason why the truth of faith regarded in itself without the good of faith is not to be ascribed to the Lord, that is, not to be given to Him or acknowledged to come from Him, is that no truth of faith has any life within it until it becomes the good of faith; and the truth of faith becomes the good of faith through the willing and doing of it, 7835. When therefore it becomes the good of faith it is acknowledged by the Lord as being His, for the Lord imparts faith indirectly through the good of faith. Every truth of faith too that a member of the spiritual Church possesses becomes the good of faith when he is regenerated. Not till then does it become the Lord's.

[4] The law regarding the redemption of the firstborn of man was laid down to prevent them from sacrificing their sons, a practice that had come into use among gentiles with whom statutes of the Ancient Church - which was a representative Church - remained in force, but in a form that had been completely adulterated in the course of time. The consecration of the firstborn to God was one of those statutes of the Ancient Church; but by consecration they began to understand sacrifice. The descendants of Jacob leaned likewise towards the same practice, and therefore that law of redemption was marked out for them. And to prevent them from following that practice the Levites were adopted instead of the firstborn, as has been stated. The law was marked out in keeping with its corresponding meaning in the spiritual world, which is that the truths of faith are not holy, thus that these are not to be consecrated or ascribed to the Lord but forms of the good of faith. Later on that consecration to Him was taken to mean that they were to give or present the firstborn to Jehovah, and to offer a sacrifice for him, as the following stated in Luke shows,

When the days of their purification according to the law of Moses were completed, they brought Jesus to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord (as it has been written in the Law of the Lord, that every male opening the womb should be called holy to the Lord) and to offer a sacrifice. Luke 2:22-24.

3563. 'And said, The voice is Jacob's voice, and the hands Esau's hands' means that the understanding consists in this case of truth existing inwardly, while the will consists in this case of good existing outwardly, so that an inversion of order exists with them. This is clear from the use of 'voice' to refer to truth and of 'hand' to refer to good. For 'voice' is used in reference to truth, as is evident from the places introduced in Volume One, in 219, 220, and from the fact that the actual words used are 'the voice is Jacob's voice', Jacob representing natural truth, as shown in various places above. And the reason why 'hand' is used in reference to good is that 'the hand' means power and ability, 878, 3541, the source of which is nothing other than good. All the power and ability that truth possesses comes from good, even though it seems to come from truth. This likewise is evident from the fact that the actual words used are 'the hands are Esau's hands', Esau representing natural good, as also shown above. The consequent existence of an inversion of order with them is evident from the consideration that proper order requires good, which belongs to the will, to exist inwardly, and truth, which belongs to the understanding, to exist outwardly. But these matters, as stated above, are such as can hardly be explained in any intelligible way because few have any knowledge of such things. For even if a perfectly clear explanation of them were given they would still not be understood if knowledge of them is lacking. Nevertheless the matter must be discussed since it is the subject at this point.

[2] The only source of the good of the natural which manifests itself in a person is interior good, that is, the good of the rational. Natural good can have no other source, though that which flows in from the one determines the nature of the good in the other. And since the good of the natural comes from no other source, neither does the truth of the natural, for where good is, so also is truth. Both must be present if they are to be anything at all. And again, that which flows in determines the nature of the truth there. Influx is such that the good of the rational flows into the natural along two different routes - one a very short and thus direct route into the good itself of the natural, and then on through the good of the natural into the truth there, this good and this truth being represented by Esau and his venison. In addition to this, the good of the rational flows into the natural along a second route which is less short, that is to say, through the truth of the rational, by means of which influx it forms something resembling good, but which in fact is truth.

[3] Everything is thus taking place according to order when the good of the rational flows directly into the good of the natural and at the same time into the truth there, and also indirectly by way of the truth of the rational into the good of the natural, and in a similar way both directly and indirectly into the truth of the natural. When all this is taking place the influx is according to order. Such is the influx with those who have been regenerated. But a different influx exists prior to regeneration, as has been stated above. That is to say, the good of the rational does not flow into the good of the natural directly but indirectly, by way of the truth of the rational, and so manifests something resembling good in the natural, which is not genuine good nor consequently genuine truth. Instead it is something such as does indeed possess good inmostly by virtue of influx through the truth of the rational; but there is nothing more. Therefore good too presents itself there under a different form, that is to say, outwardly as good represented by 'Esau' but inwardly as truth represented by 'Jacob'. And as this is not in accordance with order an inversion of order is said to exist with them. Yet insofar as nobody can be regenerated in any other way it is according to order.

[4] I realize that no matter how clearly these matters are stated and as a consequence are able to be perceived clearly by those who have a knowledge of the existence of such things, they still remain obscure to those who do not know what influx is, more so to those who do not know that the rational is distinct and separate from the natural, and more so still to those who do not have any distinct and clear idea of what good is or of what truth is. But the nature of natural good and of natural truth in the state prior to regeneration is plain to see only from the desires present at that time. When a person desires truth not because he has life in view but some other ends, such as to become learned, and to become this because of some desire to outdo others, which amounts to childish envy, and also because of some desire for glory, the order existing with the good of the natural and the truth of the natural is akin to that represented here by Jacob. As these two exist in relation to each other, there is a reversal of order, that is to say, the will, to which good belongs, exists outwardly, while the understanding, to which truth belongs, exists inwardly.

[5] But in the state following regeneration the situation is different. In this case the person desires truth not only because he has life in view but more still because he desires the good itself which constitutes that life. Previous desires, that is to say, those connected with outdoing, with childish envy, and with glory, now break away, so much so that they seem so to speak to have been dispelled. At this point good which belongs to the will exists inwardly, and truth which belongs to the understanding exists outwardly. The result then is that truth acts as one with good since it stems from good. This order is genuine order. The order existing previously also serves to bring this order about, for the will which at that time occupies an external position allows many things to come in which contribute to regeneration, like a sponge which absorbs water, clear or muddy, so that it absorbs such things as would otherwise be rejected. Indeed these things serve as means and also as ideas that have to be formed concerning genuine goods and truths, besides other uses which they serve.