3304. 'And his hand was grasping Esau's heel' means the lowest level of natural good, to which [truth] clung with some power. This is clear from the meaning of 'the hand' as power, dealt with in 878, and as having reference to truth, 3091; from the meaning of 'grasping' as clinging to; from the meaning of 'the heel' as the lowest part of the natural, dealt with in 259; and from the representation of 'Esau' as the good of the natural, dealt with in 3302. From these meanings it is evident that 'his hand was grasping Esau's heel' means the lowest level of natural good, which truth clung to with some power.

[2] The implications of truth clinging with some power to the lowest good of the natural are that when the natural, or the natural man, is being regenerated, the conception of good and truth there is from the rational man, that is, from the spiritual man by way of the rational man, prior to this from the celestial man by way of the spiritual man, and prior to this from the Divine by way of the celestial man. Thus it is an influx which starts with the Divine and, passing through consecutive degrees, terminates in the lowest part of the natural, that is, in the worldly and bodily part. When the lowest natural has been contaminated by what is inherited from the mother, truth is unable to be united to good. It can do no more than cling to it with some power. Nor is truth united to good until the contamination has been eliminated. This is the reason why good but not truth is bred within a human being, and why small children therefore are devoid of all knowledge of truth and why truth has to be acquired through learning and after that joined to good, see 1831, 1832. This also explains why it is said that they struggled together within her, that is, they conflicted, 3289. Consequently when first conceived truth supplants good, as is said regarding Jacob, that he supplanted Esau,

Does he not call his name Jacob, and he has supplanted me these two times. Genesis 27:36.

And in Hosea,

He will make a visitation on Jacob over his ways and requite him according to his deeds; in the womb he supplanted his brother. Hosea 12:2-3.

[3] Those whose attention is fixed solely on the historical details and who cannot take it off these know no more than this, that the details contained here, and also those that have gone before [regarding the circumstances of the twins' birth], foretell what took place between Esau and Jacob, as is also corroborated by what follows. But the Lord's Word is such that the historical details follow their own sequence, while the spiritual details, which belong to the internal sense, follow theirs, so that the historical details are seen by the external man, but the spiritual details by the internal man. This being so a correspondence exists between the two, that is to say, between the external man and the internal man; and this is effected by means of the Word, for the Word serves to unite heaven and earth, as shown many times. Thus when anyone in a holy frame of mind reads the Word, a union is effected of his external man which is on earth with his internal man which is in heaven.

7088. THE INTERNAL SENSE

Verses 1-4 And afterwards Moses and Aaron came and said to Pharaoh, Thus said Jehovah, the God of Israel, Send My people away, and let them hold a feast to Me in the wilderness. And Pharaoh said, Who is Jehovah whose voice I am to hear, [telling me] to send Israel away? I do not know Jehovah, and moreover I will not send Israel away. And they said, The God of the Hebrews has met us; let us go, we beg you, a way of three days ¹ into the wilderness, and sacrifice to Jehovah our God, lest perhaps He fall on us with pestilence or sword. And the king of Egypt said to them, Why, O Moses and Aaron, do you draw the people away from their work? ² Go to your burdens!

'And afterwards Moses and Aaron came' means the Divine Law and the teachings derived from it. 'And said to Pharaoh' means an admonition from them to those who are opposed to the Church's truths. 'Thus said Jehovah, the God of Israel' means that it comes from the Lord's Divine Human. 'Send My people away' means that they should leave off molesting them. 'And let them hold a feast to Me in the wilderness' means in order that they may worship the Lord with gladness of mind, in the obscurity of faith they live in. 'And Pharaoh said' means thinking that was of a contrary nature. 'Who is Jehovah whose voice I am to hear' means regarding the Lord whose admonition they should listen to. 'To send the people away?' means to leave off [molesting them]. 'I do not know Jehovah' means that they have no interest in the Lord. 'And moreover I will not send Israel away' means that neither are they going to leave off molesting. 'And they said, The God of the Hebrews has met us' means that the God of the Church has Himself issued the command. 'Let us go, we beg you, a way of three days in the wilderness' means that they must be in a state completely removed from falsities, even though they live in obscurity of faith. 'And sacrifice to Jehovah our God' means in order that they may worship the Lord. 'Lest perhaps He fall on us with pestilence and sword' means to avoid the damnation of evil and falsity. 'And the king of Egypt said to them' means the reply from those steeped in falsities. 'Why, O Moses and Aaron, do you draw the people away from their work?' means that their Divine Law and doctrinal teachings must not exempt them from hardship. 'Go to your burdens!' means that they must lead lives involving conflict.

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