474. And he said to me, These are they who come out of great tribulation.- That this signifies information that they are those who have been in temptations, is evident from the signification of, "he said to me," as denoting information; and from the signification of tribulation, or great affliction, as denoting temptations, of which we shall speak presently. Something shall first be said here concerning the temptations which those undergo in the spiritual world who are in falsities from ignorance, and who are here treated of. Only those undergo temptations there who have lived a good life in the world according to their religion, wherein were falsities of doctrine in which they believed. For by temptations falsities are shaken off, truths are implanted, and thus they are prepared for heaven; for all those who shall come into heaven must be in truths; wherefore so long as they are in falsities they cannot come into heaven. The reason is, that the Divine Truth proceeding from the Lord makes heaven, and makes the life of the angels there, therefore falsities, because they are opposed to truths, and because opposites destroy, must first be removed, and they cannot be removed except by temptations.

[2] That temptations perform this use, may be seen in the Doctrine of the New Jerusalem, (n. 187-201), where temptations are treated of. The reason why they are let into temptations in the spiritual world after the life in the body, is, that they could not be tempted in the world on account of the falsities of religion in which they were, and which were everywhere dominant. It must be understood, that all those who are let into temptations are saved; but the evil, who are in falsities from evil, are not tempted, for with them truths cannot be implanted, because the evils of their lives offer a hindrance; but truths are taken away from them, and therefore they remain in pure falsities, and are then immersed deeply in hell, according to the quality of evil from which such falsity springs. In a word, those who are about to come into heaven are vastated in regard to their falsities, and those who are about to go into hell are vastated in regard to truths; that is, falsities are removed from those who are about to go to heaven, and truths are taken away from those who are about to go to hell. For no one can enter heaven with falsities, nor hell with truths, because truths from good make heaven, and falsities from evil make hell. The temptations of those whose falsities have to be removed are treated of in many passages in the Word, and especially in David, and are called afflictions, tribulations, and vastations; but there is no need to quote those passages here, since it can be seen without them that tribulations and afflictions, when spoken of in reference to good, mean, in the spiritual sense, temptations.

4353. 'And kissed him' means an interior joining together brought about by love. This is clear from the meaning of 'kissing' as a joining together brought about by love, dealt with in 3573, 3574, 4215, in this case an interior joining together. The present verse deals with the joining of Divine Natural Good, meant by 'Esau', to Natural Truth, meant by 'Jacob'. It deals with this in general, whereas the verses which follow deal more specifically with that joining together. As regards the actual joining together, it is that which brings about a person's regeneration, for he is regenerated through the joining of the truths he knows to the good he cherishes, that is, through the joining of matters of faith to the deeds of charity. The process of that joining together is described fully in this verse and in those that follow. The subject, it is true, is the Lord - how He made His Natural Divine and therefore how He united Divine Good to Truth within the Natural; but because the regeneration of man is an image of the glorification of the Lord, 3138, 3212, 3296, 3490, that regeneration too is at the same time the subject in the internal sense. And because man can get an idea of regeneration more easily than he can of the Lord's glorification, let His glorification be illustrated by means of man's regeneration.

[2] It is evident from the explanations which have been given that the joining together of good and truths which leads to regeneration is a process that grows more and more interior; that is, truths are joined step by step more interiorly to good. For the object of regeneration is that the internal man may be joined to the external, and so the spiritual man be joined to the natural through the rational. Unless the two are joined together no regeneration is accomplished. Nor can that joining together be effected until good has first been joined to the truths within the natural; for the natural has to exist as the underlying groundwork, and things within the natural have to exist in correspondence with those above them. This is the reason why, when the natural is being regenerated, the joining together of good and truths becomes step by step more interior; for the spiritual first joins itself to the things that are inmost in the natural, and after that through these to those that are more exterior. Nor can man's internal join itself to his external unless the truth within that external becomes the good of truth, that is, becomes truth in will and action, 4337. Only then can they be joined together, for the Lord flows into a person through his internal man, especially through the good there. The good there is able to be joined to the good in the external man, but not directly to the truth.

[3] From this it becomes clear that the truth residing with man must first of all become truth in will and action, that is, become the good of truth, before the joining together of the rational and the natural, or of the internal man and the external, can come about. But in what way truth becomes the good of truth may be clear to anyone who gives his attention to it. Every Divine truth is related to the following two commandments: Love God above all things, and love your neighbour as yourself. These two commandments are the base from which truths are derived, the reason why truths exist, and the end to which truths lead - immediately or remotely. Therefore when truths are translated into action they are introduced step by step into their beginning and into their end, that is to say, into charity towards the neighbour and love to the Lord, and as a consequence truth becomes the good which is called the good of truth. Once truth becomes such it is able to be joined to the internal man, a conjunction which becomes step by step more interior as truths that are more interior are implanted within that good. Action comes first, then the desire for it in the person's will follows. For when a person is led by his understanding to carry out any action, he is at length led by his will to do it, till at last he has taken it on as an action performed habitually. When this point is reached it is introduced into the rational or internal man; and once it has been introduced, truth is no longer that which motivates him when he does a good action but good. For now he begins to feel within it something of what is blessed and so to speak of heaven. This remains with him after death, and by means of it the Lord raises him up to heaven.