4825. 'And yet again she bore a son' means idolatry. This is clear from the meaning of 'a son' in this case as idolatry; for those born before him meant falsity and evil, 4821, 4823. From this it follows that the third son means idolatry, for these two - falsity and evil - lead to idolatry and are contained within it. Of the three born to Judah by the Canaanite this son was the only one to survive, a third of the Jewish nation being descended from him. The meaning in the internal sense at this point is that this nation sprang from idolatry. Its very strong inclination to idolatrous practice is clear from the historical and the prophetical parts - from the sense of the letter - of the Word; and from its internal sense it is evident that this nation was constantly an idolatrous one. For idolatry consists not only in the worship of idols and graven images, and also the worship of other gods, but even in the worship of external things devoid of internal ones. This kind of idolatrous practice existed constantly among that nation, for they revered external things alone and cast internal ones completely aside, and did not even wish to know about them. They indeed had holy things - such as the Tent of Meeting containing the Ark and the Mercy seat on this, the tables with the loaves on them, the lampstand, and incenses; and outside the Tent there was the altar on which they presented burnt offerings and sacrifices. All these things were called holy, while the inmost part there was called the Holy of Holies, as well as the Sanctuary. Also, there were the vestments they had which were worn by Aaron and their high priests, which were referred to as holy vestments, for these included the ephod and the breastplate where the Urim and Thummin were, besides much else. But these things were not inherently holy; they were holy because they were representative of holy things, that is to say, they were representative of the Divine celestial and spiritual things of the Lord's kingdom, and representative of the Lord Himself. Still less was the holiness of those things due to the people among whom they existed, for those people had no affection at all for the internal things that were represented, only for external ones; and having an affection for external things alone is idolatry. This involves the worship of wood and stone, and also of gold and silver covering these, from a delusion that those objects are inherently holy. This is what the nation was like then and is also like at the present day.

[2] Yet a representative of the Church was nevertheless able to exist among such people because in that which is representative no attention is paid to the person who represents, only to whatever is represented, see 665, 1097 (end), 3670, 4208, 4281, 4288. Consequently their worship did not lead them to blessing and happiness in the next life, but merely to worldly prosperity, provided they adhered to those representatives and did not turn aside to the idols of the gentiles, and in so doing did not become openly idolatrous. For if they did it was no longer possible for that nation to represent anything at all of the Church. This then is what the idolatry, meant by Judah's third son by his Canaanite wife, is describing. This idolatry among that nation had its origin in internal idolatry, for more than all others this nation was governed by self-love and love of the world, 4459 (end), 4570. Among those governed by self-love and love of the world internal idolatry exists, for they worship themselves and they worship the world. They pay attention to holy things for the sake of personal adoration and gain; that is, they have a selfish end in view, and do not have the Lord's Church and kingdom, and so the Lord Himself, in view.

1097. 'Canaan will be a slave to him' means that such people as make worship consist solely in external things are among those who are able to perform inferior services to members of the Church. This becomes clear especially from the representatives in the Jewish Church. In the Jewish Church the internal Church was represented by Judah and Israel - the celestial Church by Judah, the spiritual by Israel - and the external Church by Jacob. People however who made worship consist solely in external things were represented by 'the gentiles' whom they called foreigners. The latter were to be 'their slaves' and were to perform inferior services in the Church, as in Isaiah,

Aliens will stand and pasture your flock, and sons of the foreigner will be your field-workers and your vine-dressers; and you will be called the priests of Jehovah, you will be spoken of as the ministers of our God. You will eat the wealth of the gentiles, and in their glory will you glory. Isaiah 61:5-6.

Here celestial people are called 'the priests of Jehovah', spiritual people 'the ministers of God', while those who made worship consist solely in external things are called 'sons of the foreigner' who were to serve in their fields and vineyards.

[2] In the same prophet,

The sons of the foreigner will build up your walls, and their kings will minister to you. Isaiah 60:10.

Here similar reference is made to the service they were to render. In reference to the Gibeonites the following is said in Joshua,

You are cursed, and some of you will always be slaves, ¹ both hewers of wood and drawers of water for the house of my God. Joshua made them on that day hewers of wood and drawers of water for the congregation, especially for the altar of Jehovah. Joshua 9:23, 27.

It may be seen elsewhere whom the Gibeonites represented because of the covenant made with them, even though they belonged among those who were to be servants in the Church. Regarding foreigners, the law was laid down that if they would accept peace and open their gates they would become tributary and serve, ² Deuteronomy 20:11; 1 Kings 9:21-22. Every single detail written down in the Word concerning the Jewish Church was representative of the Lord's kingdom. The Lord's kingdom is such that everyone, no matter who or what kind of person, must perform a use. In His kingdom the Lord looks to nothing else than use. Even those in hell have to perform a use, though the uses they do perform are the lowest of all. Among those performing inferior uses are people in the next life whose worship has been wholly external, separated from internal.

[3] Furthermore representatives in the Jewish Church were such that no attention was paid to the person who represented, but to that which was represented by him. The Jews, for example, who were anything but celestial people, nevertheless represented these, while Israel, anything but a spiritual man, nevertheless represented that man; and it was similar with Jacob and the rest. The same applied to kings and priests; they nevertheless represented the Kingship and Holiness of the Lord. This matter becomes clearer still from the fact that even inanimate objects were representative, such as Aaron's garments, the altar itself, the tables with the leaves on them, the lamps, bread and wine; as well as oxen, calves, goats, sheep, kids, lambs, doves, and pigeons. And because the sons of Judah and Israel did no more than represent the internal and the external worship of the Lord's Church, and yet more than anybody else made all worship consist merely in external things, it is therefore they, more than all others, who may be called 'Canaan' according to his meaning here.

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