4030. 'That Jacob put the rods before the eyes of the flock in the runners, so that they would come on heat at the rods' means summoned and joined together by His own power. This is clear from the meaning of 'the rods' as power, and when used in reference to the Lord as His own power, dealt with in 4013, 4015; and from the meaning of 'putting before the eyes of the flock in the runners, so that they would be on heat' as summoning them so that they might be joined together, as is evident from what has been stated above in 4018 and elsewhere about the meaning of these expressions.

4014. 'And hazel and plane' means the power deriving from this which natural truths possess. This is clear from the meaning of 'hazel and plane' as natural truths. This meaning which these trees have cannot be demonstrated in the same way from other places in the Word because they are not mentioned anywhere else, except for the following reference to 'the plane trees' in Ezekiel,

The cedars did not hide it in the garden of God, the fir trees were not equal to its branches, and the plane trees were nothing compared to its branches. No tree was equal to it in its beauty. Ezekiel 31:8.

This refers to the facts and to the rational concepts present in the member of the spiritual Church. 'The garden of God' means the spiritual Church, 'the cedars' rational concepts, 'the fir trees' and 'the plane trees' natural ideas - 'the fir trees' natural ideas involving good, 'the plane trees' those involving truth.