5965. 'And came to the land of Canaan, to Jacob their father' means the dwelling-place where natural but not spiritual good resides. This is clear from the meaning of 'the land of Canaan' as the Church, dealt with in 3705, 3686, 4447, 4517, 5136, and so the dwelling-place of those who were to represent the Church, who were the descendants of Jacob, as is well known; and from the representation of 'Jacob' as natural good, dealt with in 3305, 3659, 3775, 4009, 4073, 4234, 4538, but not spiritual good since this is represented by 'Israel'. For the representation of 'Jacob' as the external aspect of the Church and of 'Israel' as the internal, see 4186, 4570. Whether you say natural good or the external aspect of the Church, and spiritual good or the internal aspect of the Church, it all amounts to the same since natural good constitutes the external aspect of the Church, and spiritual good the internal aspect of the Church.

[2] The expression 'spiritual' is used to describe that which is in the light of heaven, for what is in that light has the affection for good and the perception of truth within itself. Such affection and perception make use of that light because that light comes from the Lord. People therefore who have spiritual good and truth within themselves are in the internal part of the Church, for their heads are up in heaven. But the expression 'natural' is used to describe that which is in the light of the world, for what is in this light does not have the affection for good or the perception of truth within itself, only outside itself. For the light of heaven flows down and shines round about it, thus outside it but not within it, with the result that the person can know that good is good or truth is truth because it is said to be good or truth but not because he perceives for himself that it is such. People therefore who have only natural good within themselves are in the external part of the Church, for their heads are not in heaven. Instead what light their heads receive from heaven comes from without. Jacob is called Jacob, not Israel, at this point for the reason that they are engrossed in external interests, as is plain from what has been stated above.

3705. 'The land on which you are lying I will give to you' means that the good on which the Natural rested was His own in origin. This is clear from the meaning of 'the land' here as the good of the natural, dealt with below; from the meaning of 'on which you are lying' as on which it rested; and from the meaning of 'giving it to you' as His own in origin, also dealt with below. The reason 'the land' means the good of the natural, which Jacob will represent from now on, is that 'the land of Canaan' means the Lord's kingdom, 1413, 1437, 1585, 1607, 1866. And since it means the Lord's kingdom it also means in the highest sense the Lord, 3038 - for the Lord is the All in all of His kingdom, and anything there which does not originate in Him and have regard to Him is not part of His kingdom. The Lord's kingdom is also meant in the Word by 'heaven and earth', ¹ 1733, 1850, 2117, 2118 (end), though in this case the interior of that kingdom is meant by 'heaven' and the exterior by 'earth', 82, 1411, 1733, 3355 (end). Consequently 'heaven' in the highest sense means the Lord as regards His Divine Rational and 'earth' as regards His Divine Natural. Here therefore 'the land on which you are lying' means the Good of the Natural on which the Natural, represented by 'Jacob', rested. For 'Jacob' represents the Lord's Divine Natural, as stated many times above.

[2] Furthermore the word 'land' has various meanings, see 620, 636, 1066, 2571, 3368, 3379, the reason being that Canaan, which is called the Holy Land, means the Lord's kingdom in general; and when 'heaven' is mentioned together with 'earth', 'heaven' in that case means, as has been stated, that which is interior, 'earth' that which is exterior. This being so it also means the Lord's kingdom on earth, that is, the Church; and having that meaning, it also means a person who is the Lord's kingdom or who is the Church. With that person 'heaven' accordingly means that which is interior, 'earth' that which is exterior; or what amounts to the same, 'heaven' is the rational and 'earth' the natural since the rational exists more interiorly with man and the natural more exteriorly. And since 'land' [or 'earth'] has all these meanings it also means that which a person puts into effect - namely the good of love which he receives from the Divine - so that he may become the Lord's kingdom. From this it is evident in what way the meaning of 'land' in the Word varies.

[3] 'I will give to you' means that in origin it was His own. This becomes clear from the meaning of 'giving' in the Word when used in reference to the Lord, for as shown just above, the Lord is Divine Good and also Divine Truth, the former being called 'the Father' and the latter 'the Son'. Now because Divine Good is His and consequently that which is His own, it follows that 'giving to you', when spoken by Jehovah and used in reference to the Lord, means that which was His own in origin. From this one may see what is meant in the internal sense by the Lord's frequent reference to the Father's having given to Him - that is to say, to Himself, the Lord - as in John,

Father, glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You, as You have given Him power over all flesh, in order that all You have given Him, to them He may give eternal life. I have glorified You on earth; I have accomplished the work which You gave Me to do. I have manifested Your name to the men whom You gave Me out of the world; Yours they were, and You gave them to Me. Now they know that everything which You have given Me is from You; for the words which You gave Me I have given to them. I am praying for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours; for all things that are Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine. John 17:1-2, 4, 6-10.

Each reference here to the Father's giving means originating in the Divine Good that was His, and so in that which was His own.

[4] From this one may see how great an arcanum lies within the particular words spoken by the Lord, and also how greatly different the sense of the letter is from the internal sense, and more so from the highest sense. The Lord spoke in this fashion in order that mankind which at that time had no knowledge at all of any Divine truth might nevertheless be enabled in its own way to grasp and so accept the Word, while angels did so in theirs, for the angels knew that Jehovah and He were one and that the Father was Divine Good. For this reason also they knew that when He spoke of the Father giving to Him He would be giving to Himself and so drawing on what was His own.

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