2026. That by “I will give unto thee” is meant that the things which are in the heavens and on the earth are His, follows from what has just been said. In the sense of the letter, the words “I will give unto thee” mean that God or Jehovah would give to the Lord; just as it is said in the Word of the Evangelists that the Father gave unto Him all things that are in heaven and on the earth. But in the internal sense, in which the truth itself is presented in its purity, it means that the Lord acquired them for Himself, because Jehovah was in Him, and in everything belonging to Him, as before said. This may be further illustrated by that which is like it; for it is as if the interior or rational man, or the thought, should say that the corporeal would have rest or tranquillity if it would desist from doing this or that: in this case he that speaks is the same man as he that is spoken to, for both the rational and the corporeal belong to the man, and therefore when mention is made of the former, the latter also is understood.

[2] Moreover that the things in the heavens and on the earth are the Lord’s, is evident from very many passages in the Word, both in the Old Testament, and also in the Evangelists (as Matthew 11:27; Luke 10:22; John 3:34, 35, 17:2; Matthew 28:18); and also from what has been shown in Part First (n. 458, 551, 552, 1607). And as the Lord rules the universal heaven, He also rules all things on earth; for they have been so connected together that He who rules the one rules all things; for on the heaven of angels depends the heaven of angelic spirits, on this the world of spirits, and on this again the human race. And in like manner on the heavens depend all things that are in the world and in nature, for without influx from the Lord through the heavens, nothing that is in nature and its three Kingdoms would come forth and endure (see n. 1632).

552. That all the joy and happiness in heaven are from the Lord alone, has been shown me by many experiences, of which the following may be related. I saw that with the utmost diligence some angelic spirits were fashioning a lampstand with its lamps and flowers of the richest ornamentation in honor of the Lord. For an hour or two I was permitted to witness with what great pains they labored to make everything about it beautiful and representative, they supposing that they were doing it of themselves. But to me it was given to perceive that of themselves they could devise nothing at all. At last after some hours they said that they had formed a very beautiful representative candelabrum in honor of the Lord, whereat they rejoiced from their very hearts. But I told them that of themselves they had devised and formed nothing at all, but the Lord alone for them. At first they would scarcely believe this, but being angelic spirits they were enlightened, and confessed that it was so. So it is with all other representative things, and with everything of affection and thought in both general and particular, and also with heavenly joys and felicities-the very smallest bit of them is from the Lord alone.