2004. 'And you will be the father of a multitude of nations' means union of the Human Essence with the Divine Essence. This cannot be shown so easily from an explanation of individual expressions in the internal sense unless they are seen within a general overall picture by which this sense is presented. This is frequently the case with the internal sense, and when it is it may be called more universal because it is more remote. From an explanation of individual expressions this proximate sense is the result - that everything true and everything good comes from the Lord, for as will be discussed belong 'father' means that which comes from Him, that is, from the Lord, 'multitude' means truth, and 'of nations' resulting good. But because the latter, that is to say, truths and goods, are the means by which the Lord united the Human Essence to the Divine Essence, that more universal and more remote sense emerges from such an explanation. This is the way in which angels perceive these words; and at one and the same time they perceive a reciprocal union, namely that of the Lord's Divine Essence with the Human Essence, and of the Human Essence with the Divine Essence. For as has been stated, 'As for Me, My covenant is with you' means union of the Divine Essence with the Human Essence, the words that follow consequently meaning that of the Human Essence with the Divine Essence.

[2] It is an arcanum not yet disclosed that union was accomplished reciprocally, an arcanum that can hardly be explained intelligibly, for as yet the nature of influx has not been known to anyone, and without a knowledge of influx no idea can possibly be gained of what reciprocal union is. It is possible to shed light to some extent on the matter however from influx as it takes place with man, for with man too reciprocal conjunction exists. From the Lord by way of man's internal, which is dealt with just above in 1999, life is flowing in constantly into man's rational, and by way of the rational into the external and even into the facts and cognitions he has. These it not only adapts to receive life but also sets them in order and so enables man to think and ultimately to be rational. Such is the conjunction of the Lord with man, and without it man would never be able to think, let alone be rational. This may become clear to anyone from the fact that present within a person's thought there are countless arcana belonging to the science and art of analysis, so countless that even to all eternity it is not possible to explore them thoroughly. Such arcana do not flow in through the senses or the external man, but through the internal man. Man for his part however, through facts and cognitions, goes to meet this life flowing from the Lord, and in so doing joins himself reciprocally.

[3] But as for the union of the Lord's Divine Essence with His Human Essence, and of the Human Essence with the Divine Essence, this was infinitely superior, for the Lord's Internal was Jehovah Himself, and so Life itself, whereas man's internal is not the Lord, and so not life but a recipient of life. The Lord's relationship with Jehovah was union, whereas that of man with the Lord is not union but conjunction. The Lord united Himself to Jehovah by His own power and on that account became righteousness as well, whereas man in no way joins himself to Him by his own power but by the Lord's. This being so, it is the Lord who joins man to Himself. Such reciprocal union is what the Lord means where He attributes what is His own to the Father, and what is the Father's to Himself, as in John,

Jesus said, He who believes in Me believes not in Me but in Him who sent Me. He who sees Me sees Him who sent Me I have come as light into the world in order that everyone who believes in Me may not remain in darkness. John 12:44-46.

These words conceal very deep arcana - arcana in fact regarding the union of good with truth, and of truth with good, or what amounts to the same, regarding the union of the Divine Essence with the Human Essence, and of Human Essence with Divine Essence. Hence His declaration, 'He who believes in Me believes not in Me but in Him who sent Me', and shortly after, 'He who believes in Me', in between which two statements comes another concerning that union in which He says, 'He who sees Me sees Him who sent Me'.

[4] In the same gospel,

The words that I speak to you I do not speak from Myself; the Father who dwells within Me He does the works. Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me. Truly I say to you, He who believes in Me [will also do] the works that I do. John 14:10-12.

These words hold the same arcana within them, that is to say, those relating to the union of good with truth, and of truth with good; or what amounts to the same, of the Lord's Divine Essence with the Human Essence, and of the Human Essence with the Divine Essence. Hence His declaration, 'The words that I speak to you I do not speak from Myself; the Father who is within Me, He does the works', and shortly afterwards, 'The works that I do', in between which two statements likewise comes another concerning the union, in which He says, 'I am in the Father and the Father in Me'. This is the mystical union that many people speak about.

[5] From this it is clear that He was not someone other than the Father even though He spoke of the Father as though He were someone other. The reason for His doing so was the reciprocal union that was going to be accomplished and was accomplished, for He openly states so many times that He is one with the Father, as He does in the places just quoted -

He who sees Me sees Him who sent Me. John 12:45.

Also,

The Father who dwells within Me; believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me. John 14:10-11.

And in the same gospel,

If you knew Me you would know my Father also. John 8:19.

In the same gospel,

If you know Me you know My Father also. And from now on you know Him and have seen Him. Philip said to Him, Show us the Father. Jesus said to him, Have I been with you so long and yet you do not know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father. So why do you say, Show us the Father? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me? John 14:7-10.

And in the same gospel,

I and the Father are one. John 10:30.

This is why in heaven they know no other Father than the Lord since the Father is within Him, and He is one with the Father; and when they see Him they see the Father, as He Himself has said; see 15.

1999. That 'Abram fell on his face' ¹ means adoration is clear without explanation. Falling on one's face' was the reverent way in which the Most Ancient Church, and as a consequence the ancients, expressed adoration. The reason they expressed it in this way was that 'the face' meant the inward parts, and 'falling on one's face' ¹ represented a state of humiliation of those inward parts; and from this it became in the Jewish representative Church an act of reverence. True adoration or humility of heart entails prostration before the Lord face-downwards on the ground as the natural action resulting from it. Indeed humiliation of heart entails the acknowledgement of oneself as being nothing but uncleanness, and at the same time the acknowledgement of the Lord's infinite mercy towards such. When these acknowledgements are fixed in the mind, the mind itself casts itself down towards hell and prostrates the body. Nor does it raise itself until raised up by the Lord, as happens in all true humiliation, accompanied by a perception that such raising up is of the Lord's mercy. Such was the humiliation of members of the Most Ancient Church. It is different however with adoration which does not flow from humiliation of heart, see 1153.

[2] It is well known from the Word, in the Gospels, that the Lord adored and prayed to Jehovah, His Father, and that He did so as though to Someone other than Himself, even though Jehovah was within Him. But the state that the Lord experienced at such times was the state of His humiliation, the nature of which has been discussed in Volume One, namely this, that at such times as these He was in the infirm human derived from the mother. But to the extent He cast this off and took on the Divine His state was different, which state is called the state of His glorification. In the first state He adored Jehovah as Someone other than Himself, even though He was within Him, for, as has been stated, His Internal was Jehovah. In the latter state however, that is to say, the state of glorification, He spoke to Jehovah as to Himself, since He was Jehovah Himself.

[3] The truth of all this however cannot be grasped unless one knows what the internal is and how the internal operates into the external, and furthermore how the internal and external are distinct and separate and yet joined together. The matter may be illustrated however by means of something similar, namely by means of the internal with man and of its influx and operation into the external with him. For the fact that man has an internal, an interior or rational, and an external, see what has appeared already in 1889, 1940. Man's internal is that which makes him human and distinguishes him from animals. It is by means of this internal that man lives on after death and for ever, and by means of it the Lord can raise him up among angels. It is the prior or primary form from which anyone becomes and is a human being, and it is by means of this internal that the Lord is united to man. The heaven itself that is nearest to the Lord consists of these human internals, but being above even the inmost angelic heaven these internals therefore belong to the Lord Himself. In this way the entire human race is directly present beneath the eyes of the Lord. Distance, a visible feature of this sublunary world, does not exist in heaven, still less above heaven - see what has been mentioned from experience in 1275, 1277.

[4] These inward aspects of men possess no life in themselves but are recipient forms of the Lord's life. To the extent then that anyone is under the influence of evil, both that of his own doing and that which is hereditary, he has been so to speak separated from this internal which is the Lord's and resides with the Lord, and so has been separated from the Lord. For although that human internal is joined to the person and cannot be separated from him, yet to the extent he moves away from the Lord he does in a way separate himself from it, see 1594. But such separation is not a complete severance from that human internal - for if it were, man would no longer be able to live after death; but it is a lack of harmony and agreement with it on the part of his capacities which are beneath it, that is, of his rational and external man. Insofar as disharmony and disagreement are present there is no conjunction, but insofar as they are absent man is joined to the Lord by means of the internal, which is achieved in the measure that he is moved by love and charity, for love and charity effect conjunction. Such is the situation with man.

[5] But the Lord's Internal was Jehovah Himself, since He was conceived from Jehovah, who cannot be divided or become the relative of another, like a son who has been conceived from a human father. For unlike the human, the Divine is not capable of being divided but is and remains one and the same. To this Internal the Lord united the Human Essence. Moreover because the Lord's Internal was Jehovah it was not, like man's internal, a recipient form of life, but life itself. Through that union His Human Essence as well became life itself. Hence the Lord's frequent declaration that He is Life, as in John,

As the Father has Life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have Life in Himself. John 5:26.

And elsewhere besides this in the same gospel, 1:4; 5:21; 6:33, 35, 48; 11:25. 'The Son' is used to mean the Lord's Human Essence. To the extent therefore that the Lord was in the human which He received by heredity from the mother, He appeared to be distinct and separate from Jehovah, and worshipped Jehovah as Someone other than Himself. But to the extent He cast off this human, the Lord was not distinct and separate from Jehovah but one with Him. The first state, as has been mentioned, was the state of the Lord's humiliation, but the second the state of His glorification.

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