3438. And Jehovah appeared to him in that night, and said. That this signifies the Lord’s perception concerning that obscurity, is evident from the signification of “Jehovah appearing and saying,” when predicated of the Lord, as being to perceive from the Divine (that by “Jehovah appearing to him” is signified from the Divine, may be seen above, n. 3367; and that “saying” denotes perceiving, n. 2862, 3395); for Jehovah was in Him; thus so long as the human was not yet glorified, the appearing of Jehovah was Divine perception, or perception from the Divine; and therefore by “Jehovah appearing to him and saying” this is signified; and from the signification of “night,” as being a state of shade or obscurity (n. 1712). By this obscurity is signified the literal sense of the Word, for relatively to the internal sense this is as shade to light.

[2] A few words shall be said in order that it may be further known how the case is with the literal sense of the Word. Relatively to the literal sense, the internal sense is like the interior or celestial and spiritual things of a man relatively to his exterior or natural and bodily things, his interiors being in the light of heaven, and his exteriors in the light of the world. What the difference is between the light of heaven and the light of the world, consequently between what is of the light of heaven and what is of the light of the world, may be seen above (n. 1521-1533, 1619-1632, 1783, 1880, 2776, 3138, 3167, 3190, 3195, 3222, 3223, 3225, 3337, 3339, 3341, 3413), namely, that it is like the difference between the light of day and the shade of night.

Man, being in this shade, and not being willing to know that in truth from the Lord there is light, cannot believe otherwise than that his shade is light, and also on the other hand that the light is shade; for he is like a bird of night, which as it flies in the shade of night thinks that it is in the light but when in the light of day, that it is in the shade. For with such a person the internal eye (that is, the understanding), by which man sees interiorly, has been formed no differently than this, because he has not formed it differently; for he opens it when he looks downward, that is, to worldly and bodily things, and shuts it when he should look upward, that is, to spiritual and heavenly things. With such persons the case is the same in respect to the Word-that which appears in its literal sense they believe to be of light; but that which appears in the internal sense they believe to be of shade (for the Word appears to everyone in accordance with his quality); the fact being that relatively to its literal sense the internal sense of the Word is as the light of heaven to the light of the world (n. 3086, 3108); that is, as the light of day to the light of night.

[3] In the internal sense there are singulars, myriads of which together make one particular that is presented in the literal sense; or what is the same, in the internal sense there are particulars, myriads of which together make in the literal sense one general; and it is this general that is seen by man, but not the particulars which are in it and which constitute it. Nevertheless the order of the particulars in the general is apparent to man, but in accordance with his quality; and this order is the holiness that affects him.

2776. And offer him there for a burnt-offering. That this signifies that He should sanctify Himself to the Divine, is evident from the representation of a burnt-offering among the Hebrew nation and in the Jewish church, as being the most holy thing of their worship. There were burnt-offerings and there were sacrifices, and what these represented may be seen above (n. 922, 923, 1823, 2180). Their sanctifications were made by means of them, and hence it is that by “offering up for a burnt-offering” is here signified to be sanctified to the Divine, for the Lord Himself sanctified Himself to the Divine, that is, united His Human to His Divine by the combats and victories of temptations (see n. 1663, 1690, 1691 at the end, 1692, 1737, 1787, 1812, 1813, 1820).

[2] It is a common belief at this day that the burnt-offerings and sacrifices signified the Lord’s passion, and that by this the Lord made expiation for the iniquities of all; indeed, that He took them upon Himself, and thus bore them; and that those who believe are in this manner justified and saved, provided they think, even though it were in the last hour before death, that the Lord suffered for them, no matter how they may have lived during the whole course of their life.

But the case is not really so: the passion of the cross was the extremity of the Lord’s temptation, by which He fully united His Human to His Divine and His Divine to His Human, and thus glorified Himself. This very union is the means by which those who have the faith in Him which is the faith of charity, can be saved. For the supreme Divine Itself could no longer reach to the human race, which had removed itself so far from the celestial things of love and the spiritual things of faith, that men no longer even acknowledged them, and still less perceived them. In order therefore that the supreme Divine might be able to come down to man in such a state, the Lord came into the world and united His Human to the Divine in Himself; which union could not be effected otherwise than by the most grievous combats of temptations and by victories, and at length by the last, which was that of the cross.

[3] Hence it is that the Lord can from His Divine Human illumine minds, even those far removed from the celestial things of love, provided they are in the faith of charity. For the Lord in the other life appears to the celestial angels as a Sun, and to the spiritual as a Moon (n. 1053, 1521, 1529, 1530, 2441, 2495), whence comes all the light of heaven. This light of heaven is of such a nature that when it illumines the sight of spirits and angels, it also illumines their understanding at the same time.

This is inherent in that light, so that in heaven so much as anyone has of external light, so much has he of internal light, that is, so much of understanding; which shows wherein the light of heaven differs from the light of the world. It is the Lord’s Divine Human which illuminates both the sight and the understanding of the spiritual; which would not take place if the Lord had not united His Human Essence to His Divine Essence; and if He had not united them, man in the world would no longer have had any capacity of understanding and perceiving what is good and true, nor indeed would a spiritual angel in heaven have had any; so that they would have had nothing of blessedness and happiness, consequently nothing of salvation. From this we can see that the human race could not have been saved unless the Lord had assumed the Human and glorified it.

[4] Hence then anyone may infer what truth there is in the idea that men are saved if they only think from a kind of interior emotion that the Lord suffered for them, and took away their sins, however they may have lived; whereas the light of heaven from the Lord’s Divine Human cannot reach to any but those who live in the good of faith, that is, in charity; or what is the same, those who have conscience. The very plane into which that light can operate, or the receptacle of that light, is the good of faith, or charity, and thus conscience. (That the spiritual have salvation from the Lord’s Divine Human, may be seen above, n. 1043, 2661, 2716, 2718)