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'.

1733. 'Possessor of heaven and earth' means the conjunction of the Internal Man, or Jehovah, with the Interior and the Exterior Man. This is clear from the meaning of 'heaven and earth'. That which is interior in man is called 'heaven', and that which is exterior 'earth'. The reason heaven means that which is interior in man is that man as regards interior things is an image of heaven, and so a miniature heaven. The Lord's Interior Man primarily is heaven, for the Lord is the All in all of heaven, and thus heaven itself. The exterior man's being called 'the earth' follows as a consequence of this. Here also is the reason why 'the new heaven and the new earth' described in the Prophets and in the Book of Revelation is used to mean nothing other than the Lord's kingdom and every person who is the Lord's kingdom, that is, who has the Lord's kingdom within him. As regards heaven and earth having these meanings, see 82, 911, for heaven, and 82, 620, 636, 913, for earth.

[2] That 'God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth' here means the conjunction of the Internal Man with the Interior and Exterior Man in the Lord becomes clear from the consideration that the Lord as regards the Internal Man was Jehovah Himself; and because the Internal Man or Jehovah guided and instructed the External Man - as the Father did the Son - the External Man considered in relation to Jehovah is therefore called the Son of God, but in relation to the mother the Son of Man. The Lord's Internal Man, which is Jehovah Himself, is that which is here called 'God Most High', and until complete conjunction or union had taken place it is called 'Possessor of heaven and earth', that is, Possessor of all that resided in the Interior and Exterior Man, which, as has been stated, is here meant by 'heaven and earth'.