4198. 'And Mizpah, for he said, Let Jehovah watch between me and you' means the presence of the Lord's Divine Natural, that is to say, within the good that 'Laban' represents now. This is clear from the meaning of 'watching' or keeping watch as presence, for one who keeps watch on another, or sees him from high up in a watchtower, is present with his sense of sight with him below. What is more, when used in reference to the Lord, 'seeing' means Foresight and Providence, 2837, 2839, 3686, 3854, 3863, and so presence too, but through Foresight and Providence.

[2] As regards the Lord's presence, the Lord is present with everyone, yet only to the extent He is received; for all receive their life from the Lord alone. The life in people who receive His presence within good and truth is the life of intelligence and wisdom, whereas the life of those who do not receive His presence within good and truth but within evil and falsity is the life of insanity and foolishness. All the same, the latter have the capacity to be intelligent and wise. The fact that they do have that capacity is shown by their knowing how to counterfeit and imitate the outward appearance of what is good and true and to win people over by means of that outward appearance. This would not be possible if they did not have that capacity. The nature of the presence is meant by 'Mizpah', at this point the nature of it with those whose works are inherently good, that is, with the gentiles, who are represented here by 'Laban'. Indeed the name Mizpah in the original language is derived from the verb 'to watch'.

666. 'A covenant' means nothing other than regeneration and the things that constitute regeneration. This becomes clear from many places in the Word where the Lord Himself is called 'the Covenant', for it is He alone who regenerates, to whom a regenerated person looks, and who is the All in all of love and faith. That the Lord is the Covenant itself is clear in Isaiah,

I Jehovah have called You in righteousness, taking You by the hand and keeping You, and I will give You for a Covenant of the people, a light of the nations. Isaiah 42:6.

Here 'a Covenant' stands for the Lord, and 'the light of the nations' is faith. Similarly in Isaiah 49:6, 8. In Malachi,

Behold, I am sending My angel, and suddenly there will come to His temple the Lord whom you are seeking, and the Angel of the Covenant in whom you delight. Behold, He is coming. Who will endure the day of His coming? Malachi 3:1-2.

Here the Lord is called 'the Angel of the Covenant'. In Exodus 31:16 the Sabbath is called an eternal covenant because it means the Lord Himself. It also means the celestial man who has been regenerated by Him.

[2] The Lord being the Covenant itself, it is clear that what constitutes the covenant is everything that joins a person to the Lord, that is to say, love and faith and the things that belong to love and faith. In fact these are the Lord's and the Lord is within them, and so the Covenant itself exists within these, where they are received. These things do not exist except with someone who has been regenerated, with whom anything at all that is the Regenerator's, or the Lord's, constitutes the covenant, or is the covenant. As in Isaiah,

My mercy will not depart from you, and the covenant of My peace will not be removed. Isaiah 54:10.

Here 'mercy and covenant of peace' means the Lord and things that are the Lord's. In the same prophet,

Incline your ear and come to Me; hear, that your soul may live, and I will make with you an eternal covenant, even the sure mercies of David. Lo, I have given Him as a witness to the peoples, a leader and lawgiver to the peoples. Isaiah 55:3-4.

Here 'David' stands for the Lord. 'The eternal covenant' exists in and acts through those qualities that are the Lord's, which are meant by 'coming to Him' and 'hearing so that your soul may live'.

[3] In Jeremiah,

I will give them one heart and one way, to fear Me all their days, for their own good and that of their sons after them. I will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from doing good to them, and I will put My fear into their heart. Jeremiah 31:39, 40.

This stands for those who are to be regenerated, and also for those things with someone regenerate which are 'one heart and one way', namely charity and faith, which belong to the Lord and so to the covenant. In the same prophet,

Behold, the days are coming, said Jehovah, when I will make with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah a new covenant, not like the covenant which I made with their fathers, for they rendered My covenant invalid. But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days: I will put My law in the midst of them, and will write it on their heart, and I will be their God, and they will be My people. Jeremiah 31:31-33.

This is an explicit statement of what constitutes the covenant - love and faith in the Lord, which will be present with him who is to be regenerated.

[4] In the same prophet love is called the covenant far the day, and faith the covenant for the night, Jeremiah 33:20. In Ezekiel,

I Jehovah will be their God, and my servant David will be prince in the midst of them; and I will make with them a covenant of peace, and I will banish the evil wild animal from the land, and they will dwell securely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods. Ezekiel 34:24-25.

This clearly refers to regeneration. 'David' stands for the Lord. In the same prophet,

David will be their prince for ever. I will make with them a covenant of peace, it will be an eternal covenant with them. I will set My sanctuary in their midst for evermore. Ezekiel 37:25-26.

This similarly refers to regeneration. 'David' and 'the sanctuary' stand for the Lord. In the same prophet,

I entered into a covenant with you, and you were Mine. And I washed you with water and washed away your blood from upon you, and anointed you with oil. Ezekiel 16:8-9, 11.

This clearly stands for regeneration. In Hosea,

I will make for them a covenant on that day, with the wild animals of the field, and with the birds of the air, ¹ and with the creeping things of the earth. Hosea 2:18.

This stands for regeneration. 'Wild animals of the field' stands for things of the will, 'birds of the air' ¹ for those of the understanding. In David,

He sent redemption to His people, He commanded His covenant for ever. Psalms 111:9.

This stands for regeneration. This is called 'a covenant' because it is something given and received.

[5] People however who have not been regenerated - or what amounts to the same, who focus worship on things that are external and who set up and worship as gods both themselves and everything they desire and think - are referred to, because they separate themselves from the Lord, as 'rendering the covenant invalid', as in Jeremiah,

They forsook the covenant of Jehovah their God, and bowed down to other gods and served them. Jeremiah 22:9.

In Moses,

He who transgressed the covenant by serving other gods, the sun, the moon, and the host of heaven, was to be stoned. Deuteronomy 17:2 and following verses.

'The sun' stands for self-love, 'the moon' for false assumptions, 'the host of heaven' for falsities themselves. From this it is now clear what 'the Ark of the covenant' is, containing the testimony or covenant, namely the Lord Himself; what 'the Book of the covenant' is, namely the Lord Himself, Exodus 24:4-7, 34:27; Deuteronomy 4:13, 23; what 'the Blood of the covenant' is, namely the Lord Himself, Exodus 24:6, 8; who alone is the Regenerator. Hence 'a covenant' is regeneration itself.

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