Arcana Coelestia # 3190
3190. 'And they rode on the camels' means the understanding part of the mind, raised up above natural facts. This is clear from the meaning of 'riding' as the understanding when raised up, dealt with in 2761, 2762, and from the meaning of 'camels' as general facts in the natural man, dealt with in 3048, 3071, and so natural facts. The implications of this are that when truth from the natural is raised up into the rational it is borne out of the sphere of worldly light into that of heavenly light - so to speak from the obscurity of night into the brightness of day. For the things that belong to the light of the world, in which all natural objects exist, dwell so to speak in night, compared with things belonging to the light of heaven; but things that belong to the light of heaven, in which all spiritual objects exist, dwell so to speak in daylight, compared with things belonging to the light of the world. Consequently when truth from the natural is raised up towards the rational, the person is raised up at the same time into intelligence and wisdom. All the intelligence and wisdom present with man comes from this source. These are the things meant by the understanding part, raised up above natural facts.
Job 38
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Then Yahweh answered Job out of the whirlwind,
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"Who is this who darkens counsel by words without knowledge?
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Brace yourself like a man, for I will question you, then you answer me!
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"Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Declare, if you have understanding.
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Who determined its measures, if you know? Or who stretched the line on it?
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Whereupon were its foundations fastened? Or who laid its cornerstone,
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when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
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"Or who shut up the sea with doors, when it broke forth from the womb,
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when I made clouds its garment, and wrapped it in thick darkness,
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marked out for it my bound, set bars and doors,
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and said, 'Here you may come, but no further. Here your proud waves shall be stayed?'
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"Have you commanded the morning in your days, and caused the dawn to know its place;
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that it might take hold of the ends of the earth, and shake the wicked out of it?
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It is changed as clay under the seal, and stands forth as a garment.
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From the wicked, their light is withheld. The high arm is broken.
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"Have you entered into the springs of the sea? Or have you walked in the recesses of the deep?
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Have the gates of death been revealed to you? Or have you seen the gates of the shadow of death?
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Have you comprehended the earth in its breadth? Declare, if you know it all.
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"What is the way to the dwelling of light? As for darkness, where is its place,
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that you should take it to its bound, that you should discern the paths to its house?
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Surely you know, for you were born then, and the number of your days is great!
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Have you entered the treasuries of the snow, or have you seen the treasures of the hail,
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which I have reserved against the time of trouble, against the day of battle and war?
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By what way is the lightning distributed, or the east wind scattered on the earth?
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Who has cut a channel for the flood water, or the path for the thunderstorm;
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To cause it to rain on a land where no man is; on the wilderness, in which there is no man;
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to satisfy the waste and desolate ground, to cause the tender grass to spring forth?
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Does the rain have a father? Or who fathers the drops of dew?
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Out of whose womb came the ice? The gray frost of the sky, who has given birth to it?
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The waters become hard like stone, when the surface of the deep is frozen.
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"Can you bind the cluster of the Pleiades, or loosen the cords of Orion?
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Can you lead forth the constellations in their season? Or can you guide the Bear with her cubs?
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Do you know the laws of the heavens? Can you establish its dominion over the earth?
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"Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, That abundance of waters may cover you?
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Can you send forth lightnings, that they may go? Do they report to you, 'Here we are?'
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Who has put wisdom in the inward parts? Or who has given understanding to the mind?
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Who can number the clouds by wisdom? Or who can pour out the bottles of the sky,
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when the dust runs into a mass, and the clods of earth stick together?
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"Can you hunt the prey for the lioness, or satisfy the appetite of the young lions,
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when they crouch in their dens, and lie in wait in the thicket?
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Who provides for the raven his prey, when his young ones cry to God, and wander for lack of food?
