860. From these considerations it also becomes clear that all regeneration advances from evening to morning, as is mentioned six times in Genesis 1 where the regeneration of man is the subject. Here the evening is described in verses 2-3, the morning in verses 4-5. The present verse describes the first ray of light or the morning of this state as 'the tops of the mountains appearing'.

6176. 'And Israel's days drew near when he must die' means the state immediately before regeneration. This is clear from the meaning of 'drawing near' as being near, thus immediately before; from the meaning of 'days as states, dealt with in 23, 487, 488, 493, 893, 2788, 7462, 3785, 4850; from the representation of 'Israel' as spiritual good, dealt with above in 6169; and from the meaning of 'dying' as rising again and being roused into spiritual life, dealt with in 3326, 3498, 3505, 4618, 4621, 6036, thus being regenerated. For one who is being regenerated rises from spiritual death and is roused into new life.

4618. 'And Isaac breathed his last, and died' means an awakening within the Divine Natural. This is clear from the meaning of 'breathing one's last, and dying' as an awakening, dealt with in 3326, 3498, 3505; for when mention is made in the Word of someone having died, the latter end of that person's [representation] and a new beginning in another, and so a continuation, is meant in the internal sense. When for instance the kings of Judah and Israel, or the high priests, are referred to as having died, the meaning in the internal sense is the end of the representation by means of them and the continuation of it in another, and so an awakening of it. What is more, those in the next life who are present with man when these references are read have no conception of death, since in that life they are completely unaware of what it is to die. Instead of death therefore they perceive the representation which is continued in the other person. Besides, when a person dies he does so only so far as his body is concerned, which has been of service to him for performing uses on earth. So far as his spirit is concerned he continues his life in a world where what belongs to that body is no longer of any use to him.

[2] The reason why 'Isaac breathed his last, and died' means an awakening within the Divine Natural is that the rational has no life until the natural corresponds to it, 3493, 3620, 3623. It is like the sight of the eye. If this does not have any objects outside itself to look at it perishes; and it is similar with each of the other senses. It likewise perishes if the objects are utterly incompatible with it, for these bring death to it. It is also like the outlet of a spring from which no water flows, and therefore is a stream that is blocked up. Similarly with the rational. Unless its light is received within the natural its sight perishes, for facts present within the natural are the objects of sight for the rational. Or if these objects are incompatible with that light, that is, with an intelligent understanding of truth and a wise discernment of good, again the sight of the rational perishes, for it is unable to enter into things incompatible with itself. This is why in the case of those under the influence of evils and falsities the rational is closed, so that no communication with heaven lies open through it, except so to speak through chinks enabling them to think, reason, and speak. Consequently, so that the natural may be joined to the rational, it must be made ready to receive it; and this is effected through regeneration by the Lord. When it is so joined the rational lives within the natural, for within the natural it sees objects proper to the rational, as has been stated, just as within the world the eye sees objects proper to the eye.

[3] The rational does indeed possess life within itself which is distinct and separate from the life of the natural. Nevertheless the rational exists within the natural, like a person within his own house, or the soul within the body. The same is true of the heavens, in that the inmost or third heaven lives distinct and separate from the heavens beneath it, and yet if there were no reception of it in the second or middle heaven the wisdom there would evaporate. In a similar way if there were no reception of the light and intelligence of this middle heaven within the ultimate or first heaven, and finally of this heaven within man's natural, the intelligence of those heavens would likewise evaporate unless the Lord provided for its reception somewhere else. The heavens therefore have been formed by the Lord in such a way that one serves as the recipient of another, and lastly man who, as to his natural and sensory degrees, serves as the ultimate recipient of all; for at this point in him the Divine is present in the ultimate degree of order and passes into the world. If therefore the ultimate degree accords or corresponds with the degrees prior to it, those prior degrees exist simultaneously within the ultimate; for the things constituting the ultimate are the receptacles of those prior to itself, and things that are consecutive to one another are present together there within it. This shows what is meant by an awakening within the Divine Natural.