7193. 'And I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Shaddai' means the temptations which the Lord underwent in His Human and the temptations that faithful believers undergo, and the subsequent periods of consolation. This is clear from the meaning of 'appearing' or 'being seen', when used in reference to Jehovah, as perception from the Divine, dealt with in 2150, 3764, 4567, 5400; and from the representation of 'Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob' as the Lord in respect of the Divine itself and the Divine Human, dealt with in 6804, 6847. But here, since Jehovah is the speaker and says that He had appeared to them, the Lord in respect of the Human, that is, the Human before it had been made Divine, is meant, 'Abraham' meaning the celestial degree within that Human, 'Isaac' the spiritual degree, and 'Jacob' the natural degree.

[2] The reason why the Lord in respect of the Human, not the Divine itself and the Divine Human, is meant here by these three is that temptations are being referred to, and the Lord's Human before it was made Divine was able to be tempted, but not the Divine Human, still less the Divine itself; for the Divine is beyond any kind of temptation. Those in hell who are tempters cannot approach even celestial angels, for when they do approach them they are seized by a feeling of dread and anguish, and feel as if they were being deprived of air. Since they cannot approach celestial angels, because of the Divine presence among those angels, far less can they approach the Divine who is infinitely higher than the angelic level. From all this it may be recognized that the Lord took infirm humanity from His mother in order that He might undergo temptation, and by means of temptations might restore to order everything in heaven and in hell, and at the same time glorify His human, that is, make it Divine.

[3] For the meaning of 'God Shaddai' as temptations and subsequent periods of consolation, see 1992, 3667, 4572, 5628. The expression 'subsequent periods of consolation' is used because it is in keeping with Divine order that feelings of grief which temptations bring should be followed by those of comfort, just as evening and night are followed by morning and the dawn. These are also corresponding conditions, for there are alternations of states in the next life, just as there are alternations of times of day in the world. States involving temptations and molestations, and also states involving desolations, constitute evening and night in that life, while states which are periods of consolation and festivity constitute morning and dawn there. The reason why the same words, the words 'I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob', also mean the temptations that faithful believers undergo, and subsequent periods of consolation, is that a person's regeneration, which is effected by means of temptations, is an image of the Lord's glorification, 3138, 3212, 3296, 3490, 4402, 5688, and therefore the things in the Word which relate in the highest sense to the Lord relate in the comparable internal sense to faithful believers.

5688. 'Is this your youngest brother, whom you said [something about] to me?' means born after all of them, as they well knew. This is clear from the meaning of 'youngest brother' as the one born after all of them, dealt with in what follows; and from the meaning of 'whom you said to me' as that which was perceived by them. For 'saying' means that which has been perceived, see immediately above in 5687, and so means what is well known. The reason Benjamin is called here, as he in fact was, their 'youngest brother' - that is, the one born after all of them, or the youngest by birth - is that in the spiritual sense the intermediary, which 'Benjamin' represents, is likewise the one that comes last. The intermediary in a person is born last of all; for when a person is undergoing spiritual birth - that is, when he is being born again - his rational, which is his inner man, is regenerated first by the Lord, then the natural after that, the rational being the means by which the Lord regenerates the natural, 3286, 3288, 3321, 3493, 4612. Now since the intermediary must be derived from both these - both from the spiritual rational or rational that has been made new, and from the natural - and since the intermediary cannot be derived from the natural unless this too has been made new, the intermediary is inevitably born at a later stage, and then only insofar as the natural is regenerated.

[2] Everything recorded in the Word regarding the sons of Jacob happened for a providential reason, which was that the Word might be written dealing with them and their descendants. This Word was to contain heavenly realities, and in the highest sense Divine ones, which those sons in actual fact represented. This was no less so in the case of Benjamin who, being the one born last of all, represented the intermediary between the internal and the external, that is, between the celestial of the spiritual which was the Lord's when He was in the world and the natural which was also the Lord's and which He was to make Divine.

[3] Everything recorded about Joseph and his brothers represents in the highest sense the glorification of the Lord's Human, that is, the way in which the Lord made the Human within Himself Divine. The reason this is what is represented in the inmost sense is so that in its inmost sense the Word may be completely holy. A further reason is that every detail recorded may contain within itself what can pass into angelic wisdom; for it is well known that angelic wisdom so surpasses man's wisdom that man can hardly begin to comprehend any of it. The actual happiness of the angels resides in the fact that every detail has to do with the Lord; for they abide in Him. Furthermore the glorification of the Lord's Human is the pattern for a person's regeneration, which is why a person's regeneration is also presented in the internal sense at the same time as the subject of the Lord's glorification is dealt with. A person's regeneration and the countless arcana associated with it also passes into angelic wisdom and brings the angels happiness insofar as they apply those arcana to useful services, which look to a person's reformation.