3702. And behold Jehovah standing upon it. That this signifies the Lord in the highest, is evident from the fact that in the Word of the Old Testament the Lord is so often called “Jehovah” (see n. 1736, 3023, 3035); and that in the Word of the New Testament He is nowhere called “Jehovah,” but instead of Jehovah “the Lord” (n. 2921). That “standing upon it,” signifies to be in the highest, is evident without explication. The arcanum which lies concealed in the internal sense of these words, is that all goods and truths descend from the Lord, and ascend to Him; that is, that He is the first and the last; for man has been so created that the Divine things of the Lord may descend through him down to the ultimates of nature, and from the ultimates of nature may ascend to Him; so that man might be a medium that unites the Divine with the world of nature, and the world of nature with the Divine; and that thus the very ultimate of nature might live from the Divine through man as the uniting medium; which would be the case if man had lived according to Divine order.

[2] That man was so created is evident from the fact that as to his body he is a little world, for all the arcana of the world of nature are stored within him; for every hidden property there is in the ether and its modifications is stored within the eye; and every property in the air is stored within the ear; and whatever invisible thing floats and acts in the air is in the organ of smell where it is perceived; and whatever invisible thing there is in waters and other fluids is in the organ of taste; and the very changes of state are in the sense of touch everywhere in the body; besides that things still more hidden would be perceived in his interior organs if his life were in accordance with order. Hence it is evident that there would be a descent of the Divine through man into the ultimate of nature, and from the ultimate of nature there would be an ascent to the Divine, if with faith of heart, that is, with love, man would only acknowledge the Lord as his first and last end.

[3] In such a state were the most ancient people, who were celestial men; for whatever they apprehended by any sense was to them a means for thinking concerning the things of the Lord; thus concerning the Lord and His kingdom; and from this came the delight they derived from things worldly and terrestrial (see n. 1409, 2896, 2897, 2995). Moreover when they thus contemplated the lower and ultimate things of nature, these appeared before their eyes as if they were alive; for the life from which they descended was in their internal sight and perception, and the objects presented to their eyes were as images of this life; which images, although inanimate, to them were thereby animated. Such is the perception the celestial angels have regarding all things in the world; as has frequently been given me to perceive; and hence also little children have such a perception (n. 2297, 2298). From all this we can see what is the quality of those through whom the Divine things of the Lord descend down to the ultimates of nature, and from the ultimates of nature ascend to Him, and represent the Divine communication and the consequent conjunction which in the supreme sense are signified by the “angels ascending and descending on the ladder set on the earth, whose head reached unto heaven, and upon which stood Jehovah.”

3690. And Jacob went out from Beersheba. That this signifies life more remote from Divine doctrinal things, is evident from the signification of “going,” as being to live (see n. 3335, 3685); thus “going out” signifies living more remotely; and from the signification of “Beersheba” as being Divine doctrine (see n. 2723, 2858, 2859, 3466); hence it is evident that by “Jacob went out from Beersheba” is signified life more remote from Divine doctrinal things. Life is said to be more remote when it is in external truths, and is lived according to them, as is the life of the infancy and childhood of those who are being regenerated (concerning whom see above, n. 3688).

[2] In order to show further what this life is, and what its quality, it may be expedient to add a few words. All the histories of the Word are truths more remote from essential Divine doctrinal things, but still are of service to little children and older children, in order that thereby they may be by degrees introduced into the interior doctrinal matters of truth and good; and at last to Divine things themselves; for within them, in their inmost, is the Divine. While children are reading them and are affected by them from innocence, the angels who are with them are in a happy celestial state, being affected from the Lord with the internal sense, consequently with those things which the historical facts represent and signify; and it is the celestial happiness of the angels that flows in and causes the delight with the children. In order that this first state may exist, that is, the first state of infancy and childhood of those to be regenerated, the histories of the Word were given, and were so written that all things therein both in general and in particular contain within them things Divine.

[3] How far removed these historical matters are from Divine doctrinal things can be seen from the following example from them. When anyone first knows only that God descended on Mount Sinai, and gave tables to Moses, on which were written the Ten Commandments, and that Moses broke those tables, and that God wrote like commandments on other tables; while delighted solely with this history, he is in the life of external truth remote from Divine doctrinal things; but afterwards when he begins to be delighted and affected with the commandments or precepts themselves therein contained, and lives according to them, he is then in the life of truth, yet still remote from the Divine doctrinal things themselves. For a life according to the commandments is only a moral life, the precepts whereof are known to all who live in human society, from civil life itself and the laws thereof-as that the Deity is to be worshiped, and parents honored; and that murder, adultery, and theft must not be committed.

[4] But he who is being regenerated is led by degrees from this more remote life (that is, moral life), into a life nearer to Divine doctrinal things; that is, into spiritual life. When this comes to pass the man begins to wonder why such commandments or precepts were sent down from heaven in so miraculous a manner, and written on tables by the finger of God, when yet they are known to every people, and are also written in the laws of those who have never heard anything from the Word. If when he comes into this state of thought he is among those who are capable of being regenerated, he is brought by the Lord into a still more interior state, namely, into a state of thinking that deeper things lie concealed therein, with which as yet he is unacquainted; and when he reads the Word in this state, he finds everywhere in the Prophets, and especially in the Evangelists, that each one of these precepts contains within it things still more heavenly.

[5] For example, in respect to the honoring of parents, he now sees that when men are born anew, that is, when being regenerated, they receive another Father, and then become His sons, and that it is He who is to be honored; thus that this is the sense that lies hidden within this precept. And by degrees he learns that this new Father is the Lord; and at last that He is to be honored by being worshiped, and that He is worshiped when He is loved. When one who is being regenerated is in this truth, and in a life according to it, he is in Divine doctrine, and is then in an angelic state, and from this state looks at the things he before knew as following on in order, and as flowing from the Divine as it were according to the steps of a ladder, above which is Jehovah or the Lord; and on the steps whereof are His angels ascending and descending; thus he sees the things with which he had previously been delighted as more remote from him according to degrees. The case is the same with the other precepts of the Decalogue (see n. 2609). From this it is now evident what is meant by a life more remote from Divine doctrinal things, which is here signified by “Jacob went out from Beersheba.”