8043. 'Whatever opens the womb' means which springs from charity. This is clear from the meaning of 'whatever opens the womb' as that which is born directly from someone who has been regenerated, thus which springs from charity, in accordance with what has been stated immediately above in 8042. For when a person is conceived anew he so to speak enters the womb again; and when a person is born anew he so to speak comes out of the womb again. But this time, what is conceived in and born from the womb is not the person as a person; rather it is faith, the offspring of charity. This faith gives the person a spiritual character; it so to speak remakes the person himself since his life is now begotten by it. From all this one may now see what is meant in the spiritual sense by 'whatever opens the womb'. Angels, whose ideas are solely spiritual ones, do not understand the expression in any other way. What 'the womb' means, and also what 'being in the womb' and 'coming out of the womb' mean, see 3293 (end), 3294, 3967, 4904, 4918, 4931, 5052, 5054, 6433.

[2] Since those things are meant by 'the womb', the Word speaks of the Lord as Him who 'formed from the womb', that is, who is the Regenerator, as in Isaiah,

Thus said Jehovah who made you and formed you from the womb, who helps you, Fear not, O My servant Jacob, and Jeshurun whom I have chosen, for I will pour out water upon thirsty land, and streams upon the dry I will pour out My spirit upon your seed, and blessing upon your sons. Isaiah 44:2-3.

The Lord is spoken of as Him who 'made and formed from the womb' because He regenerates a person, making a spiritual person out of one who is natural. Since regeneration is accomplished through truth and good it says that He will pour out water upon thirsty land and spirit upon his seed; for 'water' means the truth of faith, 2702, 3058, 3424, 4976, 5668, 7307, and 'spirit' means the good of charity, in the same way as 'water' and 'spirit' do in John,

Jesus said to Nicodemus, Truly, truly I say to you, Unless a person is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus said to Him, How can a person be born when he is old? Can he come a second time into his mother's womb? Jesus answered, Truly, truly I say to you, Unless a person has been born of water and spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which has been born of the flesh is flesh, but that which has been born of the spirit is spirit. Are you a teacher in Israel, and do not know this? John 3:3-6, 10.

[3] The Lord is again called the One who 'formed from the womb' elsewhere in Isaiah,

Thus said Jehovah, your Redeemer, and He who formed you from the womb, I am Jehovah who makes all things, who spreads out the heavens Alone, and who stretches out the earth by Myself. Isaiah 44:24.

'The heavens' and 'the earth' are used to mean in a general sense the internal and the external Church, 82, 1411, 1733, 1850, 3355, 4535, and in a particular sense the internal and the external aspects of the Church with a person who has been regenerated; and 'spreading out' and 'stretching out' mean making or creating by the use of Divine power, 7673. This is why the Lord as Regenerator is referred to as Maker and Creator, and why regeneration is referred to as a new creation.

[4] 'Womb' is used in a similar way in the same prophet,

Hearken to Me, O house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel who have been carried from the belly who have been borne from the womb. Isaiah 46:3.

And in David,

On You, O Lord Jehovih, I have been laid from the womb; You brought me out of my mother's bowels; You are my praise continually Psalms 71:6.

From all this one may now see what is meant in the internal sense by 'whatever opens the womb' and consequently by 'the firstborn'.

4931. CORRESPONDENCE WITH THE GRAND MAN - continued

IN THIS SECTION THE CORRESPONDENCE OF THE HANDS, THE ARMS, THE FEET, AND THE LOINS WITH IT

It has been shown already that the whole of heaven bears resemblance to a human being, together with each of his organs, members, and viscera. It has been shown too that this is so because heaven bears resemblance to the Lord; for the Lord is the All in all of heaven, so much its All that, properly speaking, heaven is essentially Divine Good and Divine Truth received from the Lord. For this reason heaven is distinguished into many so to speak separate provinces, as many as there are in a person's viscera, organs, and members, with which also there is a correspondence. Unless such a correspondence existed of the human being with heaven, and through heaven with the Lord, he could not remain in existence for even a single moment, all things being held in connection with one another by means of influx.

[2] But all those provinces are linked to two kingdoms - the celestial kingdom and the spiritual kingdom. The first of these - the celestial kingdom - is the kingdom of the heart within the Grand Man; the second - the spiritual kingdom - is the kingdom of the lungs there. And in the same way as in the human being, the heart reigns, and so do the lungs, in every single part of the Grand Man. These two kingdoms combine in a marvellous way. Their combination likewise is represented in the combination of the heart and lungs in the human being, and in the combined workings of the two within each member and interior organ.

[3] While a person is an embryo, that is, while still in the womb, he is in the kingdom of the heart. But once he has struggled out of the womb he enters the kingdom of the lungs. Then, if he allows the truths of faith to lead him into the good of love, he returns from the kingdom of the lungs within the Grand Man to the kingdom of the heart. For thereby he enters the womb a second time and is born again. Once again those two kingdoms become combined in him, but the order has been turned around. Previously the kingdom of the heart in him was under the control of the lungs, but now the kingdom of the lungs comes under the control of the heart. That is, first of all the truth of faith has dominion in him, but afterwards the good of charity does so. For the correspondence of the heart with the good of love and that of the lungs with the truth of faith, see 3635, 3883-3896.