3702. 'And behold, Jehovah was standing above it' means the Lord at the highest point. This becomes clear from the fact that the Lord is called Jehovah so many times in the Old Testament Word, see 1736, 3023, 3035, and that in the New Testament Word He is not referred to anywhere as Jehovah but as the Lord instead, 2921. As regards the meaning of 'standing above it' as being at the highest point, this is clear without explanation. The arcanum concealed in the internal sense of these words is that every good and truth come down from the Lord and go up to Him, that is, He is the First and the Last. For the human being has been so created that Divine things that are the Lord's may come down through him even to the lowest things of the natural order, and from the lowest things of the natural order may go up to Him. Thus the human being was created to be the means through which the Divine was linked to the natural world, and the natural world was linked to the Divine, and in this way through the human being as the means linking the two together, the lowest degree of the natural order might receive life from the Divine - which would be a reality if mankind had lived in accordance with Divine order.

[2] The creation of the human being in this particular form is evident from the fact that his body is a world in miniature, because every arcanum that is part of the natural world is also stowed in the body. Each arcanum present in the ever-changing sky is also stowed in the eye; and each one in the air is also stowed in the ear. Anything floating unseen and active in the air is stowed - where it is detected - in the organ of smell, anything unseen that is present in water or any other fluid is stowed in the organ of taste. And actual changes of state likewise occur in the sense of touch throughout the body. Besides these even further arcana are stored away in the body which could be detected by a person within his interior organs if his life accorded with order. From this it is evident that a descent of the Divine through the human being into the lowest degree of the natural order would take place, and from the lowest degree of the natural order an ascent to the Divine, if only the human being with heartfelt faith, that is, with love, acknowledged the Lord as his Final and Primary end.

[3] A state such as this existed with the most ancient people, who were celestial, for whatever they discerned with any of their senses was to them a means to thought about things which are the Lord's, and so about the Lord and His kingdom. This was the source of the delight they gained from worldly and earthly things, see 1409, 2896, 2897, 2995. Furthermore whenever these people contemplated in this fashion the lower and the lowest things of the natural order, such things appeared to them to have life in them; for the life from which these came down existed in those people's internal sight and perception. The objects which they saw with their eyes were so to speak images of that life, and although those images were inanimate they were nevertheless animate to those people. This is the kind of perception that celestial angels have of every thing in the world, as I have often been allowed to perceive, and it is also the source of the kind of perception which young children have, see 2297, 2298. This shows what those people are like through whom Divine things that are the Lord's come right down to the lowest things of the natural order, and from the lowest things of the natural order rise up to Him - people that represent Divine communication and the consequent joining together, meant in the highest sense by 'the angels going up and coming down the stairway set up on the earth, and its top reaching to heaven, with Jehovah standing above it'.

1096. That 'blessed be Jehovah, [God] of Shem' means every good imparted to those who worship the Lord from things that are internal becomes clear from the meaning of 'blessed'. Blessing entails every good - celestial and spiritual, and natural as well. All these are meant in the internal sense by blessing, while in the external sense it means all worldly, bodily, and earthly good. But if the latter are to be a blessing, it is vital that they derive from internal blessing, for this alone is real blessing since it is eternal and is joined with all happiness. It is the Essential Being (Esse) of all blessings. For what has Being apart from that which is eternal? Everything else that has being is non-eternal. In early times it was customary to say 'Blessed be Jehovah', by which people meant that every blessing, that is, all good, flows from Him. It was also a way of expressing thanks for the Lord's blessing or having blessed them, as in David, Psalms 28:6; 71:21; 41:13; 66:20; 68:19, 35; 72:18-19; 89:52; 119:12; 124:6; 135:21; 144:1, and in other places besides these.

[2] The expression 'blessed be Jehovah God' is used because Shem, or the internal Church, is the subject. That Church is called an internal Church by virtue of charity. It is in charity that the Lord is present, Who is therefore called 'Jehovah God' here. But He is not called this in the external Church, for although the Lord is present there, that presence is not the same as with the member of the internal Church. The member of the external Church still believes that he himself is the source of the good deeds of charity which he performs. Consequently when the subject is the member of the external Church the Lord is called God, as He is in the next verse in reference to Japheth - 'God enlarge Japheth'. That every good imparted to those who worship the Lord from things that are internal is meant becomes clear also from the order of things. The order is this: From the Lord comes everything celestial, from the celestial comes everything spiritual, from the spiritual comes everything natural. Such is the order by which all things are brought into being, and therefore is the order belonging to influx.

[3] That which is celestial is love to the Lord and love towards the neighbour. Where there is no love, the chain is broken and the Lord not present For He flows in solely by way of that which is celestial, that is, by way of love. When that which is celestial does not exist, that which is spiritual cannot either, for everything spiritual comes from the Lord by way of the celestial. That which is spiritual is faith. Consequently faith does not exist unless it comes from the Lord by way of charity or love. And the same applies to the natural. It is according to this same order that all goods flow in. From this it follows that every good is imparted to those who worship the Lord from things that are internal, that is, from charity. But to those who do not do so from charity no good is imparted, but only an imitation of good which is in itself evil, as the delight accompanying hatred and adultery, which regarded in itself is an absolutely foul delight, into which it is also converted in the next life.