10155. 'And they will recognize that I am Jehovah their God' means perception that the Lord is the source of all good and all truth. This is clear from the meaning of 'recognizing' as understanding, believing, and perceiving, dealt with below. The reason why perceiving that the Lord is the source of all good and all truth is meant is that the names Jehovah and God are used, and the Lord is called Jehovah by virtue of good and God by virtue of truth, see 2586, 2769, 2807, 2822, 3921, 4287, 4402, 7010, 9167.

The reason why 'recognizing' means understanding, believing, and perceiving is that the word is used in reference both to the human power of understanding and to the power of will. When used in reference solely to the power of understanding it means understanding; when used in reference to the understanding and at the same time the will it means believing; and when used in reference solely to the will it means perceiving. With those therefore who merely know of something and as a result think about it, recognizing implies understanding. But with those who possess faith, recognizing implies believing, and with those who have love, recognizing implies perceiving.

[2] When however recognizing is coupled with understanding, seeing, or believing, 'recognizing' means perceiving; for understanding, seeing, and believing are connected with the understanding, consequently with truth, whereas perceiving is connected with the will, consequently with good, as in John,

Peter said, We have believed and recognized that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. John 6:69.

In the same gospel,

Jesus said, Believe the works, that you may recognize and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in the Father. John 10:38.

In the same gospel,

Jesus said, If you recognize Me you recognize My Father, and from now on you recognize Him and have seen Him. John 14:7.

In the same gospel,

The Spirit of truth will be sent, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor recognizes Him. But you recognize Him, because He remains with you and will be in you. John 14:16-17.

In Mark,

Jesus spoke in parables, so that seeing they may see and not recognize. Mark 4:11-12.

In Jeremiah,

... that you may recognize and see that it is evil and bitter to depart from Jehovah your God. Jeremiah 2:19.

In the same prophet,

Let him who glories glory in this, to understand and to recognize Me, that I am Jehovah. Jeremiah 9:24.

In Hosea,

I will betroth you to Me in faith, and you will recognize Jehovah. Hosea 2:20.

[3] In these places 'recognizing' means perceiving, and perceiving comes about as a result of good, whereas understanding and seeing come about as a result of truth. For inwardly within themselves those in whom good or love is predominant perceive that something is so, whereas within themselves those in whom truth or faith is predominant see that it is such. Therefore perception that something is so exists among those who are in the Lord's celestial kingdom, but belief that it is so among those who are in the Lord's spiritual kingdom, see the places referred to in 9277, and what has been stated in 9992, 9995, 10105. And what perception is, see 125, 371, 483, 495, 503, 521, 536, 597, 607, 1121, 1384, 1387, 1398, 1442, 1919, 2144, 2515, 2831, 3528, 5121, 5145, 5227, 7680, 7977, 8780.

[4] In addition, since the proper meaning of 'recognizing' is perceiving as a result of good, reference is made in Deuteronomy 8:5 to recognizing from the heart; for 'from the heart' means from the good of love, 3883-3896, 7542, 9050, 9300, 9495. Therefore also doing good is referred to as recognizing Jehovah, Jeremiah 22:16.

From all this it is evident that 'they will recognize that I am Jehovah their God' means perception that the Lord is the source of all goodness and truth.

3509. 'And Rebekah said to Jacob her son - she said' means the Lord's perception from Divine Truth concerning natural truth. This is clear from the representation of 'Rebekah' as the Divine Truth of the Lord's Divine Rational, dealt with in 3012, 3013, 3077; from the meaning of 'saying' as perceiving, dealt with in 1791, 1815, 1819, 1822, 1898, 1919, 2080, 2506, 2515, 2552, 2619; and from the representation of 'Jacob' as the Lord's Natural as regards truth, dealt with in 3305. From this it is evident that 'Rebekah said to Jacob her son' means the Lord's perception from Divine Truth concerning natural truth. For on the one hand the Lord wished to acquire truth from the Divine Good of the Divine Rational, represented by 'Isaac', through the good of the Natural, represented by 'Esau', by means of which truth He would glorify, or make Divine, the Natural. But on the other hand the Lord wished to acquire truth from the Divine Truth of the Divine Rational, represented by 'Rebekah', through the truth of the Natural, represented by 'Jacob', by means of which truth He would glorify, or make Divine, the Rational. But these two wishes of His cannot be grasped unless light is thrown on the subject from what happens with man when being regenerated or made new by the Lord. And even then it cannot be grasped unless one knows the situation with the rational as regards good and as regards truth there. So let this matter be discussed briefly.

[2] The rational mind is distinguished into two separate mental powers, one called the will, the other the understanding. That which goes forth from the will when someone is being regenerated is called good, and that which goes forth from the understanding is called truth. Until a person has been regenerated the will does not act in unison with the understanding. Instead the will desires good whereas the understanding desires truth; and so different is each desire from the other that the effort of the will is perceived to be quite distinct and separate from that of the understanding. This is perceived however only by those who stop to reflect, knowing what the will is and the things that constitute this, and what the understanding is and the things that constitute that. But it is not perceived by those who do not know those things and therefore do not stop to reflect. And there is the added reason that the natural mind is regenerated by way of the rational mind, see 3493, and indeed according to order as follows: The good of the rational does not pass directly into the good of the natural and regenerate it but by way of truth which belongs to the understanding, thus giving the appearance that it enters in from the truth of the rational. These are the matters which this chapter deals with in the internal sense; for 'Isaac' is the rational mind as regards good present in the will, 'Rebekah' as regards truth present in the understanding. 'Esau' is the good of the natural springing from the good of the rational, 'Jacob' the truth of the natural springing from the good of the rational by way of the truth there.

[3] These considerations show the kind of arcana contained in the internal sense of the Word; yet there are very few which can be described in a way intelligible to the human mind. The number of those which are beyond man's comprehension and defy description is unlimited. For the more deeply the Word goes, that is, the more interiorly into heaven, the more unlimited and also the more indescribable do they become not only to man but also to angels of the lower heaven. And when it reaches the inmost heaven the angels there perceive that the arcana are infinite and, being Divine are quite beyond their comprehension. Such is the nature of the Word.