3796. 'And so it was, when Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban his mother's brother' means an acknowledgement of the affection for that truth as to its origin. This is clear from the meaning of 'seeing' here as acknowledging, as is evident from the train of thought, and from the representation of 'Rachel' as the affection for interior truth, dealt with above in 3793. The expression 'the daughter of Laban his mother's brother' embodies the origin of that affection; that is to say, it came from a parallel good which had been joined in a brotherly relationship to rational truth represented by 'Rebekah, Jacob's mother'.

[2] As regards affections for truth and good, genuine affections for truth and good which are perceived by a person all have a Divine origin since they come from the Lord. But as they come down they branch off into various and different streams where they form new origins for themselves. For as they flow into affections which are not genuine but spurious, and into affections for evil and falsity present with a person, so they become varied. Affections which often have a similar outward appearance to genuine ones present themselves, but these are nevertheless not genuine inwardly. The only way to establish their true identity is to discover the end they have in view. If that end is selfish or worldly those affections are not genuine. But if the end is the good of the neighbour, the good of the community, the good of the country, and more still if it is the good of the Church and the good of the Lord's kingdom, they are genuine, for in that case the Lord is their end, since the Lord is within those varieties of good.

[3] But it is the mark of someone wise to be aware of which ends are present in himself. Sometimes it does seem as though his ends are selfish when in fact they are not, for the human being is such that in everything he considers how it affects himself. This he does regularly and habitually. But if anyone wishes to know the ends he himself has in view he has merely to take note of his feeling of delight - whether it is on account of his receiving praise and glory, or whether it is on account of his performing some unselfish service. If it is the latter delight which he feels, genuine affection is present in him. He ought also to take note of the varying states he passes through, for those states cause his feelings to vary considerably. A person is able to find these things out in himself, but not in others, for the ends in view to anyone's affection are known to the Lord alone. This is why the Lord said,

Do not judge, lest you are judged; do not condemn, lest you are condemned. Luke 6:37.

For a thousand people may apparently share the same affection for truth and goodness, and yet the affection in each of them may have a different origin, that is, each may have a different end in view.

[4] The reason the end makes the affection what it is - that is to say, genuine, spurious, or false - is that the end is the person's actual life. Indeed a person has as his end in view that which constitutes his life, or what amounts to the same, his love. When the good of the neighbour, the common good, the good of the Church and of the Lord's kingdom is the end in view, a person's soul is in the Lord's kingdom and so abides with the Lord. For the Lord's kingdom is nothing else than a kingdom of ends and purposes directed towards the good of the human race, 3645. Angels themselves present with a person are nowhere else than within his ends in view. To the extent that someone's end in view is such as that which exists in the Lord's kingdom, angels take delight in him and join themselves to him as a brother. But to the extent a person's end is himself, angels depart and evil spirits from hell draw near, for in hell no other end in view reigns. From these considerations one may see how important it is to find out and to know where one's affections originate; these can be known from nothing else than one's end in view.

4059. Each individual phrase in these verses is clear evidence of the existence of an internal sense, and of the fact that unless that sense is understood no one can possibly know what is implied in any of the following descriptions: The sun will be darkened, and the moon also; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken; the Lord will appear in the clouds of heaven; and the angels will sound a trumpet and in so doing will gather together the elect. Anyone who is not acquainted with the internal sense of these words will believe in a literal fulfilment of such events - that the world really is going to perish, together with everything visible in the universe. It is not the destruction of the world that is meant however by a last judgement but the coming to an end or the ruination of the Church as regards charity and faith; see 3353. The same is also quite evident from the words which come later on in this same chapter in Matthew,

At that time two will be in the field; one will be taken, the other left. Two women grinding; one will be taken, the other left. Matthew 24:40-41.

10646. 'For Jehovah the Jealous One is His name, God the Jealous One is He' means that if any other is worshipped Divine Good and Divine Truth depart. This is clear from the meaning of 'a jealous one' as somebody who does not allow anyone other than himself to be loved and worshipped; and from the meaning of 'Jehovah's name' as everything by means of which the Lord is worshipped, dealt with in 2724, 3006, 6674, 9310. And since this is Divine Truth emanating from His Divine Human, the Lord's Divine Human is what 'Jehovah's name' is used to mean in the highest sense, 2628, 6887, 8274. Divine Truth is the Lord Himself as He exists in heaven; for what emanates from Him is Himself. From the Divine nothing other than what is Divine can emanate; and what is Divine is one. From this it is evident that 'the Jealous One is His name' means that the Lord does not allow anyone other than Himself to be worshipped, because He alone is the Source of all the truth and all the good that lead to salvation. The Lord is called the Jealous One because as soon as any other is worshipped all truth and good depart. For goodness and truth, of which the Lord is the Source, are the means by which a person is linked to Him; therefore as soon as another is worshipped the link is severed, and falsity replaces truth and evil replaces good.

[2] The reason why He is called the Jealous One twice - Jehovah the Jealous One and God the Jealous One - is that Jehovah is used to mean Divine Good and God to mean Divine Truth. (In the Word the Lord is called Jehovah where Divine Good is the subject, but He is called God where Divine Truth is the subject, see 2586, 2769, 2921, 6303, 6905, 10158, 10617.) And since both depart from a person when someone other than the Lord is worshipped He is called the Jealous One twice.

[3] It is said that the Lord alone is to be worshipped. Anyone unacquainted with the nature of true worship of the Lord may think that the Lord loves to be worshipped and desires glory from people, like someone who grants another person what he requests because that other person pays him respect. Anyone who thinks like that has no idea at all of what love is like, let alone of what God's love is like. God in His love does not desire worship and glory for His own sake but for that of man and his salvation. For humility exists in those who worship the Lord and give Him glory, and from those in whom humility exists the proprium or what belongs to self departs. And so far as this departs, the Divine is received; for the proprium or self, being evil and false, is the one thing that stands in the way of the Divine. This is the glory of the Lord, and worship of Him exists to that end. Glory for the sake of self exists as a result of self-love; but heavenly love, and infinitely more so God's love, is as different from self-love as heaven is from hell.