1798. Abram said, Lo to me Thou hast not given seed. That this signifies that there was no internal of the church, is evident from the signification of “seed,” which is love and faith, spoken of above (n. 255, 256, 1025), and from the signification of an heir, as explained in what follows. That love and the faith derived from it are the internal of the church, has already been several times said and shown. No other faith is meant as being the internal of the church than that which is of love or charity, that is, which is from love or charity.

[2] Faith, in a general sense, is all the doctrinal teaching of the church. But doctrine [doctrinale] separated from love or charity, by no means makes the internal of the church, for doctrine is only knowledge which is of the memory, and this exists also with the worst men, and even with infernals. But the doctrine that is from charity, or that is of charity, does make the internal of the church, for this is of the life. The life itself is the internal of all worship; and so is all doctrine that flows from the life of charity; and it is this doctrine that is of faith which is here meant. That it is this faith which is the internal of the church, may be seen from this consideration alone, that he who has the life of charity is acquainted with all things of faith. If you will, just examine all doctrinal things, and see what and of what quality they are; do they not all pertain to charity, and consequently to the faith that is from charity?

[3] Take only the Precepts of the Decalogue. The first of these is to worship the Lord God. He who has the life of love or of charity worships the Lord God, because this is his life. Another precept is to keep the Sabbath. He who is in the life of love, or in charity, keeps the Sabbath holy, for nothing is more sweet to him than to worship the Lord, and to glorify Him every day. The precept, “Thou shalt not kill,” is altogether of charity. He who loves his neighbor as himself, shudders at doing anything that injures him, still more at killing him. So too the precept, “Thou shalt not steal;” for he who has the life of charity would rather give of his own to his neighbor, than take anything away from him. And so with the precept, “Thou shalt not commit adultery;” he who is in the life of charity the rather guards his neighbor’s wife, lest anyone should offer her such injury, and regards adultery as a crime against conscience, and such as destroys conjugial love and its duties. To covet the things that are the neighbor’s is also contrary to those who are in the life of charity; for it is of charity to desire good to others from one’s self and one’s own; such therefore by no means covet the things which are another’s.

[4] These are the precepts of the Decalogue which are more external doctrinal things of faith; and these are not only known in the memory by him who is in charity and its life, but are in his heart; and he has them inscribed upon himself, because they are in his charity, and thus in his very life; besides other things of a dogmatic nature which he in like manner knows from charity alone; for he lives according to a conscience of what is right. The right and the truth which he cannot thus understand and explore, he believes simply or from simplicity of heart to be so because the Lord has said so; and he who so believes does not do wrong, even though what he thus accepts is not true in itself, but apparent truth.

[5] As for example, if anyone believes that the Lord is angry, punishes, tempts, and the like. Or if he holds that the bread and wine in the Holy Supper are significative, or that the flesh and blood are present in some way in which they explain it-it is of no consequence whether they say the one thing or the other, although there are few who think about this matter, or even if they do think about it, provided this is done from a simple heart, because they have been so instructed, and nevertheless live in charity: these, when they hear that the bread and wine in the internal sense signify the Lord’s love toward the whole human race, and the things which are of this love, and man’s reciprocal love to the Lord and the neighbor, they forthwith believe, and rejoice that it is so. Not so they who are in doctrinal things and not in charity; these contend about everything, and condemn all whoever they may be that do not say (they call it “believe”) as they do. From all this everyone can see that love to the Lord and charity toward the neighbor are the internal of the church.

1025. And with your seed after you. That this signifies those who are being created anew, is evident from the signification of “seed” and also from what follows. From the signification of “seed” inasmuch as “seed” signifies in the literal sense posterity, but in the internal sense faith; and since, as has been often said, there is no faith except where there is charity, it is charity itself which is meant in the internal sense by “seed.” From what follows it is evident that not only the man who is within the church is meant, but also the man who is without the church, thus the whole human race. Wherever there is charity, even among nations most remote from the church, there is “seed” for heavenly seed is charity. No man can do anything of good from himself, but all good is from the Lord. The good which the Gentiles do is also from the Lord, of whom, by the Divine mercy of the Lord, hereafter. That the “seed of God” is faith, has been shown before n. 255). By faith there, and elsewhere, is meant the charity from which is faith; for there is no other faith that is faith, than the faith of charity.

[2] It is the same also in other places in the Word where “seed” is named, as the “seed of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob” by which is signified love or charity. For Abraham represented the celestial love, and Isaac the spiritual love, which are of the internal man. Jacob represented the same, but that of the external man. It is so not only in the prophetic, but also in the historic parts of the Word. The history in the Word is not perceived in heaven, but what is signified by it. The Word was written not only for man, but also for angels. When man reads the Word and takes from it nothing but the literal sense, angels then take not the literal, but the internal sense. The material, worldly, and corporeal ideas which man has when he reads the Word, become with angels spiritual and heavenly ideas-as when man reads about Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the angels do not think at all of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but of what is represented and thus signified by them.

[3] So with Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, the angels do not know of these persons, nor perceive anything else than the Ancient Church; and the interior angels do not even perceive the church, but the faith of that church, and according to the connection the state of the things treated of. Thus when “seed” is mentioned in the Word (as here the seed of Noah, that a covenant was made with them and with their seed after them), angels do not perceive such a posterity; for there was no Noah, but the Ancient Church was so called; and by “seed” angels understand charity, which was the essential of the faith of that church. And again when in the history of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob their “seed” is spoken of, angels never understand the posterity of these men, but all in the universe, both in the church and out of it, in whom there is heavenly seed, or charity; and the interior angels perceive love itself—abstractedly—which is heavenly seed.

[4] That by “seed” is signified love, and also everyone in whom there is love, is evident from the following passages in Genesis:

And Jehovah appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land (Genesis 12:7);

and again:

All the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed, forever; and I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth (Genesis 13:15-16).

Those who are in the sense of the letter do not apprehend anything else than that by “seed” is meant the posterity of Abram, and by this “land” the land of Canaan, especially as this land was given to his posterity. But those who are in the internal sense, as is the whole heaven, by the “seed of Abram” perceive nothing else than love; by the “land of Canaan” nothing else than the kingdom of the Lord in the heavens and on the earth; and in the land’s being given them they perceive nothing but its representation, of which, by the Divine mercy of the Lord, elsewhere. And again it is said of Abram:

Jehovah led him forth abroad, and said, Look up now toward heaven, and number the stars, if thou be able to number them; and He said unto him, So shall thy seed be (Genesis 15:15).Here likewise Abram is named because he represented love, or saving faith; and by his “seed” no other posterity is meant, in the internal sense, than all in the universe who have love.

[5] Again:

And I will establish My covenant between Me and thee and thy seed after thee, and I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land of thy sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be to them for God; this is My covenant, which thou shalt keep, between Me and you and thy seed after thee, that every male be circumcised unto you (Genesis 17:7-8, 10).

Here “establishing His covenant” likewise signifies the conjunction of the Lord with men throughout the universe by love, which love was represented by Abram. From this it is evident what is signified by his “seed” namely, all in the universe who have love. The covenant here treated of was circumcision, by which is never understood in heaven circumcision of the flesh, but circumcision of the heart, which those have who have love. Circumcision was a representative of regeneration by love, as is clearly explained in Moses:

And Jehovah thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love Jehovah thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live (Deuteronomy 30:6), from which it is evident what circumcision is in the internal sense; and therefore wherever circumcision is mentioned, nothing else is meant than love and charity, and the life therefrom.

[6] That by the “seed of Abraham” all in the universe who have love are signified, is evident also from the words of the Lord to Abraham and to Isaac. To Abraham, after he was willing to sacrifice Isaac as commanded, the Lord said:

In blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heavens, and as the sand which is upon the seashore; and thy seed shall inherit the gate of thine enemies; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed (Genesis 22:17-18), where it is plainly evident that by “seed” is meant all in the universe who have love.

[7] As Abraham represented celestial love, as already said, so Isaac represented spiritual love; and therefore by the “seed of Isaac” nothing else is signified than every man in whom there is spiritual love, or charity. Of him it is said:

Sojourn in this land, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee; for unto thee, and unto thy seed, I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath which I sware unto Abraham thy father; and I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heavens, and will give unto thy seed all these lands; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed (Genesis 26:3-4, 24), where it is manifest that all nations are meant who are in charity. Celestial love was represented by Abraham as the father of the spiritual love that was represented by Isaac; for the spiritual is born of the celestial, as shown above.

[8] As Jacob represented the externals of the church, which come forth from the internals, and thus all things springing in the external man from love and charity, by his “seed” is signified all in the universe who have external worship in which is internal, and who do works of charity in which there is charity from the Lord. Of this “seed” it was said to Jacob after he had seen the ladder in his dream:

I am Jehovah, the God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac; the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed; and thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the ground be blessed (Genesis 28:13-14; 32:12; 48:4).

[9] That such is the signification of “seed” is evident from the passages of the Word cited above n. 255); and also from the following.

In Isaiah:

But thou, Israel, My servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham, My friend (Isaiah 41:8), where the subject is the regeneration of man; and, as is often the case, a distinction is made between Israel and Jacob, and by “Israel” is signified the internal spiritual church, by “Jacob” the externals of the same church, and both are called the “seed of Abraham” that is, of the celestial church, because the celestial, spiritual, and natural follow one another in succession.

In Jeremiah:

I had planted thee a wholly noble vine, a seed of truth; how then art thou turned into the degenerate ones of a strange vine unto Me? (Jeremiah 2:21).

This is said of the spiritual church, which is a “noble vine” whose charity, or faith of charity, is called a “seed of truth.”

[10] Again:

As the army of the heavens cannot be numbered, neither the sand of the sea measured, so will I multiply the seed of David My servant, and the Levites that minister unto Me (Jeremiah 33:22), where “seed” plainly denotes heavenly seed, for by David is signified the Lord. That the seed of David was not as the army of the heavens that cannot be numbered, neither as the sand of the sea that cannot be measured, is known to everyone.

Again:

Behold, the days come, saith Jehovah, that I will raise unto David a righteous offshoot, and He shall reign as king and shall act intelligently, and shall do judgment and righteousness in the land; in His days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell confidently; and this is His name whereby He shall be called, Jehovah our righteousness; therefore behold the days come, saith Jehovah, that they shall no more say, As Jehovah liveth, who brought up the sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt but, As Jehovah liveth, who brought up and who led the seed of the house of Israel out of the north country (Jeremiah 23:5-8).

Here things very different from those appearing in the letter are signified. David is not meant by “David” nor Judah by “Judah” nor Israel by “Israel;” but by “David” is signified the Lord, by “Judah” what is celestial, by “Israel” what is spiritual; and therefore by “the seed of Israel” those who have charity, or the faith of charity.

[11] In David:

Ye that fear Jehovah, praise Him; all ye the seed of Jacob, glorify Him; and stand in awe of Him, all ye the seed of Israel (Psalms 22:23), where by “the seed of Israel” no other seed is meant than the spiritual church.

In Isaiah:

A seed of holiness is the stock thereof (Isaiah 6:13), meaning remains which are holy, because they are the Lord’s.

Again:

I will bring forth a seed out of Jacob, and out of Judah a possessor of My mountains; and Mine elect shall possess it, and My servants shall dwell there (Isaiah 65:9), where the celestial church, external and internal, is treated of.

Again:

They shall not generate for trouble; for they are the seed of the blessed of Jehovah, and their offspring with them (Isaiah 65:23),

where the subject is the new heavens and the new earth, or the kingdom of the Lord. Those who are therein, being “generated” from love, or regenerated, are called the “seed of the blessed of Jehovah.”