9043. 'And her offspring come out' means if in spite of this it is made stronger in the natural. This is clear from the meaning of 'coming out' - when it refers to good that is being formed out of truths - as the passing of that good from the internal or spiritual man into the external or natural man, dealt with below; and from the meaning of 'offspring' as forms of good that have developed out of truths and then been acknowledged because they are both known and perceived and thereby been made stronger. For 'bearing offspring' in the spiritual sense means acknowledging in faith and action, 3905, 3915, 3919, 6585. The situation is that a person who is conceived anew, carried so to speak in the womb, and born - that is, who is being regenerated - first of all takes in from the teachings of the Church or from the Word matters of faith and charity. These are stored away at this time among items of knowledge in the memory that belongs to the external or natural man. From there they are summoned into the internal man and stored away in the memory belonging to the internal man. Regarding both these memories a person possesses, see 2469-2494. This is the beginning of spiritual life with a person; but the person is not as yet regenerate. For him to be regenerate his external or natural man must be subservient, and as a result must be in agreement with his internal man.

A person has not been regenerated until his external or natural man has also been regenerated, see 8742-8747.

The external man is regenerated by the Lord by means of the internal, 3286, 3321, 3493, 4588, 5651, 6299, 8746.

The whole person has been regenerated when his natural has been, 7442-7443.

[2] Now seeing that aspects of regeneration are expressed in the Word by the phases of a person's generation or birth from his parents in the world, one may recognize from the process of regeneration described above what is understood or meant in the spiritual sense by 'conception', 'being carried in the womb', 'going out of the womb', and 'offspring'. That is to say, 'going out of the womb' means passing from the internal man into the external or natural man; and 'offspring' means spiritual good, or the good of charity springing from the truths of faith, that comes from the internal man and is present in the external or natural. When good is present in the natural, then the person is new. Good now constitutes his life, and truths emanating from good constitute his outward form He is like an angel, for good constitutes angels' life and truths their outward form, which is the human form. But this makes no sense to the natural man.

3286. 'On behalf of his wife because she was barren' means that the Divine Natural did not as yet exist. This is clear from the meaning of 'a wife' as Divine Truth joined to the Divine Good of the Rational, which Truth, as shown in the previous chapter, is represented by 'Rebekah'; and from the meaning of 'barren' as the non-existence as yet of the Divine Natural. For the truth of the matter is that the Divine Natural came into being from the Divine Good of the Rational as the father and from Divine Truth there as the mother. While the Divine Natural does not as yet exist the Truth of the Rational is called 'barren', here 'a barren wife'.

[2] In man's case the situation is that while he is being regenerated the Lord instills good, that is, goodwill to the neighbour, into his rational. This goodwill or good has truth from the natural man allied to it. Once this is completed his natural has still to be regenerated, as anyone may recognize from the fact that the internal or rational man often conflicts with the external or natural; and as long as conflict exists the natural is not regenerate. And while the natural remains unregenerate the rational as regards truth is barren. As is the case in general so it is similarly in every particular instance in which the rational does not agree with the natural; in every such instance the rational as regards truth is called barren.

[3] The work of regeneration revolves for the most part around making the natural man correspond to the rational man, not only in general but also in particular. And the natural man is brought into such correspondence by the Lord by means of the rational. That is to say, good is instilled into the rational, and within this good as the soil truths are planted, after which by means of rational truths the natural is brought into obedience. When it is obedient it in that case corresponds; and to the extent it corresponds a person has been regenerated.