3394. 'But behold, she is your wife! So how did you come to say, She is my sister?' means, if it was Divine Truth, then it was not also rational truth. This is clear from the meaning of 'Rebekah', to whom 'wife' refers here, as the Divine Truth of the Lord's Divine Rational, dealt with in 3012, 3013, 3077, and from the meaning of 'a sister' as rational truth, dealt with in 3386, so that 'behold, she is your wife! So how did you come to say, She is my sister?' means that being Divine Truth, it cannot be rational truth.

[2] The arcanum lying behind this matter is this: Spiritual people do not have perception as celestial people do, and therefore they do not know that Divine Truth becomes rational truth with a person once he has been regenerated. They do indeed assert that all good and all truth come from the Lord; but when these come to be present in their rational they still suppose that good and truth are their own and so originate so to speak in themselves. For they are unable to be separated from the proprium which desires this. With celestial people however the situation is that they do perceive Divine Good and Truth within the rational, that is, within rational concepts which, when enlightened from the Lord's Divine, are appearances of truth, 3368, and also within the natural, that is, within facts and sensory impressions. And this being the state in which celestial people live they are able to recognize that all good and truth flow in from the Lord, and that it is an ability to perceive what is good and true, which is communicated to them from the Lord as their own and is the cause of their delight, blessedness, and happiness. It was for this reason that the most ancient people who were celestial perceived within the particular objects which they saw with the eyes nothing else than spiritual and celestial things, 1409.

[3] Because this arcanum has to do with the regenerated spiritual person who through his regeneration by the Lord has received Divine Good within a new will and Divine Truth within a new understanding, and because that person perceives nothing other than this - that if the truth were rational it could not be Divine, as stated above, and so if it were Divine it would have nothing in common with rational - it is therefore stated here that if it was Divine Truth, then it was not also rational truth. This also is the reason why such people desire matters of faith to be believed in simplicity without any scrutiny by the rational. They are unaware of the fact that no matter of faith, not even the deepest arcanum of faith, can be grasped by anyone without the aid of some rational idea, or even a natural one, though he has no knowledge of the nature of those ideas, 3310 (end). In this way they are able to protect themselves against those who from a negative attitude argue about the truth of every single thing, 2568, 2588. But to those who have an affirmative attitude of belief in the Word the former is a harmful attitude to adopt, for it is one in which a person's freedom to think may be taken away and his conscience bound even to something extremely heretical, with the result that control is established over the person internally and externally. These are the considerations meant by Abimelech's saying to Isaac, 'Behold, she is your wife! So how did you come to say, She is my sister?'

3368. 'Do not go down to Egypt; dwell in the land of which I tell you' means not resorting to facts but to rational concepts which, when enlightened from the Divine, are appearances of truth. This is clear from the meaning of 'Egypt' as facts, dealt with in 1164, 1165, 1186, 1462, and from the meaning of 'the land' here as rational concepts which, when enlightened from the Divine, are appearances of truth. 'The land' meant here is in fact Gerar, where Abimelech the king of the Philistines was, and 'Gerar' means faith, 'Abimelech' the doctrine of faith that has regard to rational concepts, and 'the king of the Philistines' matters of doctrine, see 3364, 3365. 'The land' therefore, that is to say, Gerar where Abimelech was, has no other meaning in the internal sense. For 'the land' or 'the earth' varies in meaning, see 620, 636, 1066, since it means the character of the nation whose land it is said to be, 1262, though in the proper sense it means the Church, 3355; and as it means the Church it also means the things that belong to the Church, that is, the things which with anyone constitute the Church. Consequently it means the matters of doctrine concerning charity and faith, and so also the rational concepts which, when enlightened from the Divine, are appearances of truth; for these appearances are the truths of the Church, and so its matters of doctrine, see above in 3364, 3365.

[2] Whether you speak of rational concepts enlightened from the Divine, or of appearances of truth, or of celestial and spiritual truths as these exist in the Lord's kingdom in the heavens, or in heaven, and as they exist in the Lord's kingdom on earth, or in the Church, it amounts to the same. The same are also called matters of doctrine, but this is so because of the truths they hold within them. The rational, both in angels and in men, has its being and is called rational from appearances of truth that have been enlightened from the Divine. Devoid of those appearances the rational has no existence, so that rational concepts are appearances. The reason it is said here that he was not to go down to Egypt, that is, not to resort to facts, is that facts have been dealt with already, in that Abraham's sojourning in Egypt represented the Lord's instruction in facts during childhood; see 1502.

[3] The implications of the arcanum that he was not to go down into Egypt but was to sojourn in the land of Gerar, that is, He was not to have regard to facts but to rational concepts, are that all appearances of truth that hold the Divine within them belong to the rational, so much so that rational truths and appearances of truth are one and the same, whereas facts belong to the natural, so much so that natural truths and factual truths are one and the same. Rational truths, or appearances of the truth, cannot possibly exist or manifest themselves except from an influx of the Divine into the rational, and by way of rational concepts into the facts that belong to the natural. That which is produced at that time in the rational is seen in the natural as an image produced by many objects reflected simultaneously in a mirror. This is how they present themselves to men and to angels also, though with angels the presentation of rational concepts in the natural is not very manifest, as it is with those in the world of spirits and the spiritual-natural realm, who therefore have representatives of truth.

[4] It is similar with men, with every one, for as stated already anyone who is governed by good is a miniature heaven, or what amounts to the same, an image of heaven as a whole. And because Divine Truth is unable to flow directly into the facts that are present in the natural man, but only - as has been stated - by way of rational concepts it is therefore said here, Do not go down to Egypt, but dwell in the land of Gerar. But as no clear idea of these matters is possible unless one knows the nature of influx, and also the nature of ideas, therefore they are in the Lord's Divine mercy to be dealt with at the ends of chapters, where experiences to do with influx will be described.