6427. What these three ¹ verses contain in the internal sense is evident from the explanations that have been given. But even so, they inevitably remain obscure unless one knows what the spiritual kingdom is like. This kingdom consists of those who, possessing the truth of faith, make this truth part of their life and thus convert it into good. When a person leads a life in accordance with the truth of faith it is made into good and is called the good of truth; yet essentially it is truth in action. The truth of faith in the Lord's spiritual Church is varying, for in one Church that is said to be the truth which in another is said not to be the truth, the doctrine taught by each Church being what leads to such variation. And in this way particular teachings come to be called truths. These truths are the ones that become linked to good and constitute good in the spiritual Church. Consequently the quality of its good comes to be that of its truth, for truths give good the quality it possesses.

[2] From this one may see that the good of the spiritual Church is impure and that as it is impure spiritual people cannot be admitted into heaven except by Divine means. The most important Divine means consisted in the Lord's coming into the world and making the Human within Himself Divine. By that means spiritual people have been saved; yet because with them good is impure they are inevitably under attack from evils and falsities and so are engaged in conflict. But the Lord sees to it that through those conflicts what is impure with them is gradually made purer; for the Lord fights for them. These considerations are what are meant by 'a daughter marches onto the wall' and by 'they exasperate him and shoot at him and hate him, do the archers; and he will sit in the strength of his bow, and the arms of his hands are made strong by the hands of the powerful Jacob; from there is the shepherd, the stone of Israel'.

[3] See what has been stated already about those who belong to the spiritual Church:

They live in obscurity so far as truth and the good resulting from truth are concerned, 2708, 2715, 2718, 2831, 2935, 2937, 3241, 3246, 3833, 6289.

Light is brought to that obscurity from the Lord's Divine Human, 2716. Before the Lord's Coming the spiritual kingdom was not the same as it was after His Coming, 6372.

The Lord came into the world to save those who are spiritual; and they are saved by means of the Lord's Divine Human, 2661, 2716, 2833, 2834, 3969. From these places it is also evident that 'the arms of his hands are made strong by the hands of the powerful Jacob; from there is the shepherd, the stone of Israel' means the power that the forces involved in fighting possess, received from the almighty power of the Lord's Divine Human, from which springs all the goodness and truth that the spiritual kingdom possesses, 6424-6426.

Notes de bas de page:

2661. 'Because of his son' means for the reason that He delighted in it, that is, in the first rational. This is clear from the meaning of 'son', that is to say, the son of the servant-girl, as the merely human or first rational, dealt with already. The reason for the grief is not actually mentioned here but it is nevertheless evident from what follows. Love is plainly the reason for that grief, for it is said [that Abraham was distressed] 'because of his son', and this son is the subject in verses 13-21 which follow. But so that it may be known why this grief existed, that is, why it is said that 'the matter was deeply distressing to Abraham because of his son', let the following few comments serve by way of illustration.

[2] The Lord did not come into the world to save those who are celestial, but to save those who are spiritual. The Most Ancient Church, which was called Man, was celestial, and if this Church had remained uncorrupted there would have been no need for the Lord to be born a human being. But as soon as it began to decline the Lord foresaw that the celestial Church would cease to exist altogether in the world, and therefore a prophecy was given there and then about the Lord's Coming into the world, Genesis 3:15. After the era of that Church there was no longer a celestial Church but a spiritual Church. The Ancient Church, which came after the Flood, was this spiritual Church, referred to many times in Volume One. This Church, or the people who belonged to the spiritual Church, could not have been saved unless the Lord had come into the world. This is what the Lord's words in Matthew are used to mean,

Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Matthew 9:12-13.

And the following in John are used with the same meaning,

And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice, and there will be one flock and one shepherd. John 10:16.

And the same is also meant in the parable about the hundred sheep, in Matthew 18:11-13.

[3] Now seeing that 'Isaac', representing the Lord's Divine Rational, also means those that are celestial, who are called 'heirs', while 'Ishmael', representing the Lord's merely human rational, also means those that are spiritual, who are referred to as 'sons' - as may also be evident from what has been stated above in 2658 - the words used in the present verse therefore mean that because of His Divine Love the Lord suffered grief. This is also the meaning of what follows in verses 13-21, where Hagar's son and she his mother represent the spiritual Church, and where the subject is the state of that Church, that is, of those who are members of that Church, 2612. Any further declaration regarding these arcana is not as yet possible. All that can be stated here is that with the Lord when in the world all states of the Church were represented, and also the way in which those who belonged to it were to be saved through Him. Consequently the same states of the Church are also meant by those same names.