2669. 'Also, the son of the servant-girl I will make into a nation' means the spiritual Church which was to receive the good of faith. This is clear from the meaning of 'the son of the servant-girl' and also of 'a nation'. 'The son of the servant-girl' or Ishmael, while he was in Abraham's house, that is, while he was with Abraham, represented the Lord's first rational, as shown in 2652, 2653, 2657, 2658. But now he has been separated he takes on another representation, namely that of the spiritual Church, 2666. A similar change of representation occurred previously with Lot who while with Abraham represented the Lord's external man, 1428, 1429, 1434, 1547, 1597, 1598, 1698, but once he had been separated from Abraham he represented the external Church and many states of that Church, 2324, 2371, 2399, 2422, 2459, and in the whole of Chapter 19. As regards 'nation' meaning good, see 1159, 1258-1260, 1416, 1849. Here the good of faith is meant since it has reference to the spiritual Church. Hence the words used here, 'Also, the son of the servant-girl I will make into a nation', mean the spiritual Church which was to receive the good of faith, which is charity.

[2] The Lord's kingdom in heaven and on earth is celestial and spiritual, and therefore angels are distinguished into those who are celestial and those who are spiritual, see 202, 337. To celestial angels the Lord appears as the Sun, to spiritual as the Moon, 1053, 1521, 1529-1531. Men in a similar way are distinguished into those who are celestial and those who are spiritual. Those who belonged to the Most Ancient Church which existed before the Flood were celestial, dealt with in 607, 608, 784, 895, 920, 1114-1125, while those who belonged to the Ancient Church which existed after the Flood were spiritual, dealt with in 609, 640, 641, 765. For what the difference was between those two Churches, see 567, 607, and for what the difference is between what is celestial and what is spiritual, 81, 1155, 1577, 1824, 2048, 2069, 2088, 2227, 2507. The celestial are referred to by the Lord in the following,

He calls His own sheep by name and leads them out. And when He has led out His own sheep He goes before them, and the sheep follow Him, for they know His voice.

The spiritual however are referred to in these words,

And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice, and there will be one flock and one shepherd. John 10:3-4, 16.

The good of love is that which constitutes the celestial Church, but the good of faith that which constitutes the spiritual Church. The truth of faith does not constitute the Church but leads into it.

2227. That 'Abraham will certainly become a great and numerous nation' means that from the Lord will come all good, and from this all truth, is clear from the representation of 'Abraham' as the Lord, dealt with often above, and also from the meaning of 'nation' as good, dealt with in 1159, 1258-1260, 1416, 1849 - here 'a great and numerous nation', by which good and truth deriving from it are meant. That 'great' has reference to good and 'numerous' to truth may become clear from other places in the Word, but I must refrain from quoting them here. Truth derived from good is in the genuine sense spiritual good, for there are two kinds of good, quite distinct and separate from each other, namely celestial good and spiritual good. Celestial good is the manifestation of love to the Lord, spiritual good the manifestation of love towards the neighbour. From the former, that is, celestial good, flows the latter, that is, spiritual good; for no one is able to love the Lord unless he also loves the neighbour. Love to the Lord embraces love towards the neighbour, for love to the Lord originates in the Lord, thus in Love itself towards the whole human race. Abiding in love to the Lord is the same as abiding in the Lord, and one who abides in the Lord must inevitably abide in His love which is directed towards the human race, and thus towards the neighbour, so that in him both kinds of good are present - both celestial and spiritual. Celestial good is indeed good itself, but spiritual good is in fact truth that goes with or is derived from that celestial good. This truth, as stated, is spiritual good. It is celestial good that is meant by 'great', but spiritual good by 'numerous'.