6273. 'For Manasseh was the firstborn' means since good does indeed occupy the first place. This is clear from the representation of 'Manasseh' as good belonging to the will, dealt with before; and from the meaning of 'the birthright' as the prior and higher position, dealt with in 3325, so that 'the firstborn' is the one who occupies the first place. Is anyone incapable of seeing from natural light alone, provided a superior light brightens it a little, that good occupies the first place, as also do the intentions in a person's will, and that truth occupies the second, as also do the thoughts in his mind? Is anyone also incapable of seeing that the intentions in a person's will cause him to think in one particular way and no other, consequently that the good he possesses causes him to think that this or that is true; so that truth occupies the second place and good the first? Think and reflect on whether truth that composes faith can take root anywhere else than in good, or whether faith other than that which has taken root there is faith. From this you will be able to decide which is the primary or essential element for the Church, that is, for the person in whom the Church exists.

3203. 'And dropped down from upon the camel' means the separation of this affection from facts within the natural man, at the point when rational good was seen. This is clear from the meaning of 'dropped down' as being separated, and from the meaning of 'camels' as facts within the natural man, dealt with in 3048, 3071. That the separation took place when rational good, represented by Isaac, was seen is self-evident. What is meant by being separated from the natural man has been stated and shown above in 3161, 3175, 3182, 3188, 3190. There one may see that the affection for truth is separated from the natural man at the point when truth ceases to be merely something known and becomes a matter of life. For when it becomes a matter of life, then - through the person's habitual reliance on it - that truth permeates his whole being in the way that his innate disposition or character does. And when it permeates him in this way it flows so to speak spontaneously into action - without his thinking about any fact he has learned regarding that truth. Indeed when it becomes a matter of life, that truth can command those facts, drawing on innumerable ones as confirmations. The situation with all truth is that at its earliest stage it is merely something known, but as it develops with a person it becomes a matter of life. It is as it is with young children when they learn to walk, to talk, to think, and to use their intelligence and make sensible judgements. Once these activities - through habitual engagement in them - have become unpremeditated and so spontaneous, they disappear from among the facts they possess about how to do those things, because they are now instinctive.

[2] A similar situation also exists with the things that constitute the cognitions of spiritual good and truth among people whom the Lord is regenerating or causing to be born again. At first they are exactly like young children, in that at that time the spiritual truths which they possess exist as facts, for when matters of doctrine are learned and introduced into the memory they are nothing other than facts. But then the Lord summons those facts from the memory one after another and implants them in the person's life, that is, in good; for good is his life. Once this has happened a conversion so to speak takes place, that is to say, the person starts to act from good, that is, from life, and no longer from knowledge as he had done previously. Accordingly, anyone who is being born anew is like a young child in this respect; but they are matters to do with spiritual life that he absorbs, so that he does not act from doctrine, or truth, but from charity, or good. When this happens a state of blessedness begins with him and wisdom begins to exist with him. These considerations show what separation from facts within the natural man is, meant by Rebekah's dropping down from upon the camel, which she did before she knew that it was Isaac. These details, as anyone may see, embody arcana within them.