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.

4061. Genesis 31

1. And he ¹ heard the words of Laban's sons, saying, Jacob has taken all that belonged to our father, and from what belonged to our father he has gained all this wealth.

2. And Jacob saw Laban's face, and behold, he was not at all friendly towards him as before. ²

3. And Jehovah said to Jacob, Return to the land of your fathers, and to [the place of] your nativity, and I will be with you.

4. And Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah to the field, to his flock.

5. And he said to them, I see your father's face, that it is not at all friendly towards me as before; ³ and the God of my father has been with me.

6. And you yourselves know that with all my strength I have served your father.

7. And your father has deceived me, and has changed my wages in ten ways, and God has not allowed him to do evil to me.

8. If he said thus: The speckled will be your wages, then all the flocks bore speckled. And if he said thus: The variegated will be your wages, then all the flocks bore variegated.

9. And God has taken away your father's cattle and given them to me.

10. And it happened, when the flock came on heat, that I lifted up my eyes and saw in a dream, and behold, the he-goats mounting the flock were variegated, speckled, and mottled.

11. And the angel of God said to me in the dream, Jacob. And I said, Behold, here I am.

12. And he said, Lift up now your eyes, and see all the he-goats mounting the flock, variegated, speckled, and mottled; for I have seen everything that Laban is doing to you.

13. I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed a pillar, where you made a vow to Me; now rise up, go out of this land, and return to the land of your nativity.

14. And Rachel answered, and Leah, and they said to him, Is there still any portion and inheritance for us in our father's house?

15. Are we not considered strangers by him, for he has sold us, and also completely consumed our money? ⁴

16. For all the riches which God has snatched from our father belong to us and to our sons; and now do everything that God has told you.

17. And Jacob rose up, and set his sons and his womenfolk on camels.

18. And he brought away all his cattle and all his substance which he had gathered, the cattle ⁵ he had purchased, which he had gathered in Paddan Aram, to come to Isaac his father, to the land of Canaan.

19. And Laban had gone to shear his flock, and Rachel stole the teraphim which belonged to her father.

20. And Jacob stole the heart ⁶ of Laban the Aramean by not giving him any indication that he was fleeing.

21. And he fled with all that he had; and he rose up, and crossed the river; and he set his face towards mount Gilead.

22. And it was told to Laban on the third day that Jacob had fled.

23. And he took his brothers with him and pursued him for seven days; ⁵ and he caught up with him on mount Gilead.

24. And God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream by night, and said to him, Take care not to speak to Jacob either good or evil.

25. And Laban overtook Jacob, and Jacob pitched his tent in the mountain, and Laban pitched with his brothers in mount Gilead.

26. And Laban said to Jacob, What have you done, that you have stolen my heart, ⁶ and carried away my daughters like captives taken with the sword?

27. Why was it that you concealed your flight, and stole from me, and gave me no indication; for I might have sent you away with gladness and with songs, and with drums and with harps?

28. And you have not allowed me to kiss my sons and my daughters; now you have acted foolishly in what you have done.

29. Let my hand be for God to do you evil! And the God of your father spoke to me last night, saying, Beware of speaking to Jacob either good or evil.

30. And now you have surely gone because you longed greatly for your father's house. But why did you steal my gods?

31. And Jacob answered and said to Laban, Because I was afraid; for I said, Perhaps you will take your daughters from me by force.

32. Anyone with whom you find your gods shall not live in the presence of our brothers. Examine for yourself what is with me, and take them to yourself. And Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen them.

33. And Laban came into Jacob's tent, and into Leah's tent, and into the tent of both servant-girls, and did not find them. And he went out of Leah's tent and came into Rachel's tent.

34. And Rachel had taken the teraphim and put them in the camel's straw, and sat on them. And Laban felt around all the tent and did not find them.

35. And she said to her father, Let there not be any anger in my Lord's eyes, for I cannot rise up before you, for the way of women is upon me. And he searched and did not find the teraphim.

36. And Jacob was incensed and wrangled with Laban; and Jacob answered and said to Laban, What is my transgression, what is my sin, that you have hotly pursued after me?

37. Because you have felt around all my vessels, what have you found belonging to all the vessels of your house? Put it here in front of my brothers and your brothers, and let them decide between the two of us.

38. These twenty years I have been with you; your sheep and your she-goats have not miscarried, and I have not eaten the rams of your flock.

39. That which was torn [by beasts] I did not bring to you; I myself bore the loss of it; from my hand you required it - that stolen by day and that stolen by night.

40. This is how I was: By day the heat consumed me, and the cold by night; and my sleep was banished from my eyes.

41. These twenty years I have served you in your house - fourteen years for your two daughters, and six years for your flock; and you have changed my wages in ten ways.

42. Unless the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Dread of Isaac, had been with me, you would now have sent me away empty-handed. My affliction and the tiredness of my hands ⁸ God has seen, and has given judgement last night.

43. And Laban answered and said to Jacob, The daughters are my daughters, and the sons are my sons, and the flock is my flock, and all that you see is mine. And for my daughters, what am I to do for them today, or for their sons whom they have borne?

44. And now come, let us make a covenant, I and you, and let it be a witness between me and you.

45. And Jacob took a stone and erected it as a pillar.

46. And Jacob said to his brothers, Gather stones; and they took stones and made a heap; and they ate there upon the heap.

47. And Laban called it Jegar Sahadutha; and Jacob called it Galeed.

48. And Laban said, This heap is a witness between me and you today; therefore he called its name Galeed -

49. And Mizpah, for he said, Let Jehovah watch between me and you, for we are going to be hidden from each other. ⁹

50. If you afflict my daughters, and if you take wives (femina) besides my daughters, after we have parted from each other ¹⁰ - see, God is witness between me and you.

51. And Laban said to Jacob, Behold this heap, and behold the pillar which I have erected between me and you.

52. This heap is a witness, and the pillar is a witness, that I will not pass beyond this heap to you, and that you will not pass beyond this heap and this pillar to me, to do harm.

53. May the God of Abraham and the God of Nahor judge ¹¹ between us, the God of their father. And Jacob swore by the Dread of his father Isaac.

54. And Jacob offered a sacrifice on the mountain, and called his brothers to eat bread; and they ate bread and stayed the night in the mountain.

55. And in the morning Laban rose up early, and kissed his sons and his daughters, and blessed them; and Laban went and resumed to his place.

CONTENTS

The subject now in the internal sense is the separation of the good and truth which are represented by Jacob and his wives from the good meant by Laban, in order that they might be joined to the Divine coming from a direct Divine stock. The subject is also the state of the two so far as separation is concerned.

Fußnoten:

10645. 'Therefore you shall not bow down to any other god' means that the Lord alone is to be worshipped in faith and love. This is clear from the meaning of 'bowing down' as adoring and worshipping. The reason why the Lord alone and no other is the One who is to be worshipped is that 'Jehovah' and 'God' are used in the Word to mean the Lord, see in the places referred to in 9315, 9373, and that the Lord is the God of heaven and earth, also the one and only God, in the places referred to in 9194. The reason for saying that the Lord is to be worshipped in faith and love is that worship of the Lord springs either from faith or from love. Worship that springs from faith is called worship in accord with truths, for truths belong to faith, and worship that springs from love is called worship springing from good, for good belongs to love. Those who are in the Lord's spiritual kingdom worship Him in faith, whereas those who are in His celestial kingdom do so in love.

[2] But something must be said to show what worship of the Lord in faith and love is like. Very many people suppose that they worship the Lord in faith when they believe the things contained in the teachings of the Church, and that they worship the Lord in love when they love Him. But worship of the Lord does not consist in mere belief nor in mere love; rather it consists in leading a life in accord with His commandments. For those who do so, they alone are the ones who believe in the Lord and love Him. All others may say that they believe in the Lord but they do not in fact believe in Him, and they may say that they love Him but they do not in fact do so. The reason why only those who lead a life in accord with His commandments believe in the Lord and love Him is that the Lord cannot be where there is an understanding of truth but no will or desire for it, only where there is an understanding of truth coupled with a will or desire for it. For truth does not enter a person and become his until he wills or desires it, and in willing it does it; for the will is the real person, whereas the understanding is the person only insofar as it is rooted in the will. The Lord is also present with a person in his truths that spring from good with him; and truths springing from good are ones that a person wills or desires and consequently does, not those which he understands and does without any desire for them in his will. For without any desire in the will the doing of them is hypocrisy, since they are done before men and not before the Lord.

[3] Neither does the Lord reside with a person who is an empty shell, that is, who possesses no knowledge of His truths and does not do them. It is in those truths which spring from good, that is, which a person wills or desires and does, that the Lord is present with a person; for truths springing from good compose the Church as it exists in him, and they compose heaven as this exists in him. In short, they cause the Lord Himself to reside in him.

[4] Reason alone tells people that this is so, if they weigh the matter up; they can see that truths serve to shape the whole understanding part of the human mind, and forms of good to shape the whole will part. For all things that exist throughout creation have connection with truth and with good; and the human understanding has been made to receive truths and the human will to receive forms of good. The truths which a person believes are called the truths of faith, and the forms of good that fill a person with delight are called forms of the good of love. From this it becomes clear that what the truths of faith shaping the understanding are like, and what the forms of the good of love shaping the will are like, determines what a person is like; for a person is a person by virtue of his understanding and will. If therefore God's truths come to shape his understanding and become the constituents of his faith, and the forms of good which become the components of his love give shape to his will, it follows that heaven then exists within that person, and that the Lord resides with that person as in His heaven. For Divine Truths which make up the understanding and forms of Divine Good which make up the will come from the Lord, or are the Lord's; and those things which are the Lord's are Himself. From this it is evident that believing in the Lord consists in filling one's understanding with the truths of faith, that loving the Lord consists in filling one's will with forms of the good of love, and that neither of these things is accomplished except by learning truths from the Word, willing them, and doing them. Whether you say willing and doing or you say loving, it amounts to the same thing; for what a person loves he wills, and what he actively wills he loves.

[5] From all this it may now be seen what worshipping the Lord in faith and love really is. That the nature of it is as described is also evident from the consideration that the Lord wills or desires the salvation of all. His desire to save a person implies His desire to lead him towards Himself, to heaven. This cannot be accomplished unless the Lord is in him; and the Lord cannot be in him at all except in such things residing in him as come from Himself. Those things are truths springing from good, thus commandments of His which the person does in faith and in love; for nothing else exists in a person, or is ever able to exist, that receives the Lord and heaven. Nor does heaven itself consist of anything else.

[6] The truth that believing in the Lord and loving Him consist in doing His commandments is also what the Lord teaches in John,

If you love Me, keep My commands. He who has My commandments and does them, he it is who loves Me. If anyone loves Me he will keep My word, and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. He who does not love Me does not keep My words. John 14:15, 21, 23-24.

And elsewhere in the same gospel,

Remain in My love. If you keep My commands, you will remain in My love. You are My friends if you do whatever I command you. John 15:9-10, 14.

The commandments which are to be kept, and in accordance with which people ought to conduct their lives, are presented in the teachings about charity and faith ¹ .

Fußnoten: