3600. 'Behold, of the fatness of the land will be your dwelling-place' means life received from Divine Good; 'and of the dew of heaven from above' means from Divine Truth. This is clear from the meaning of 'fatness' as good, dealt with in 353, in this case Divine Good since it is used in regard to the Lord; from the meaning of 'dwelling-place' as life, dealt with in 1293, 3384, for 'dwelling-place' has reference to good, 2268, 2451, 2712; and from the meaning of 'the dew of heaven' as truth coming from good which is the product of a state of peace and innocence, dealt with above in 3579, in this case Divine Truth since it is used in regard to the Lord. Similar things had been told to Jacob, that is to say, 'God will give to you of the dew of heaven, and of the fatness of the land', in verse 28 above. There however 'the dew', and so truth, is mentioned first, and 'the fatness of the land', and so good, second Jacob was also told that 'God would give of' these things to him. Here however Esau is first told about 'the fatness of the land', and so about good, and secondly about 'the dew of heaven', and so about truth. He is not told however that 'God would give of' these, but that 'of them would his dwelling-place be'. From this it is also evident that 'Jacob' represents truth and 'Esau' good, and also that truth apparently occupies the prior position at first, which is a reversal of order, as accords with what has been shown many times already.

353. 'Fat' means the celestial itself, which also is the Lord's. The celestial consists in everything that is an aspect of love. Faith too is celestial when it has its origin in love. Charity is the celestial, and all good stemming from charity is celestial. All of these were represented by 'the fat' in sacrifices, especially by the fat on the liver or omentum, by the fat on the kidneys, by the fat covering the entrails, and by that actually on the entrails. These were consecrated and burnt on the altar, Exodus 29:13, 22; Leviticus 3:3-4, 14; 4:8-9, 19, 26, 31, 35; 8:16, 25, and were consequently called 'the bread offered by fire for an odour of rest' for Jehovah, ¹ Leviticus 3:15-16. For this reason the Jewish people were forbidden to eat any of the fat from animals, and this was called 'a perpetual statute throughout their generations', Leviticus 3:17; 7:23, 25. They were forbidden to do so because that Church was such that it did not acknowledge anything internal, still less anything celestial.

[2] That 'fat' means celestial things and goods that flow from charity is clear in the Prophets, as in Isaiah,

Why do you weigh out silver for ² that which is not bread, and your labour on that which does not satisfy? Hearken diligently to Me, and eat what is good, and your soul will find its delight in fatness. Isaiah 55:2.

In Jeremiah,

I will fill the soul of the priests with fat, and My people will be satisfied with My goodness. Jeremiah 31:14.

Here it is quite clear that 'fat' is not used to mean fat but celestial-spiritual good. In David,

They will be filled with the fat of Your house, and You givest them drink from the river of Your delights; for with You is the fountain of life, in Your light do we see light. Psalms 36:8-9.

Here 'fat' and 'the fountain of life' stand for the celestial, which consists in love, and 'river of delights' and 'light' stand for the spiritual, which consists in faith deriving from love. In the same author,

My soul will be satisfied with fat and fatness, and my mouth will praise You with joyful lips. ³ Psalms 63:5.

Here similarly 'fat' stands for the celestial, 'joyful lips' ³ for the spiritual. It is quite clear that the celestial is meant for the reason that 'the soul will be satisfied'. And first-fruits, which were the firstborn of the earth, are for the same reason called 'fat' in Numbers 18:12.

[3] Since there are countless genera of celestial things, and still more countless species of them, they are described in general in the words of the song which Moses recited to the people,

Butter from the cattle, and milk from the flock, with the fat of lambs and rams, the breed ⁴ of Bashan, and of goats, with the kidney-fat of wheat; and of the blood of the grape you will drink unmixed wine. Deuteronomy 32:14.

Nobody can possibly know what these expressions mean except from the internal sense. Without the internal sense nobody is able to know what butter from the cattle means, or milk from the flock, or the fat of lambs, or the fat of rams and of goats, or the breed ⁴ of Bashan, or the kidney-fat of wheat, or the blood of the grape. Without the internal sense they would be mere words and nothing more. In reality every single thing mentioned there means the genera and species of celestial things.

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