1285. That 'the whole earth was one lip' means that people everywhere held to the same doctrine in its general aspects is clear from the meaning in the Word of 'a lip', dealt with in the next paragraph. This verse, in these few words, describes the state of the Ancient Church as it had been, that is to say, it held to the same general doctrine. The next verse however describes how it began to be falsified and adulterated, and after that down to verse 9 how it became so utterly perverted that no internal worship existed any longer. Immediately after that the subject is the second Ancient Church begun by Eber, and at last the third Church which was the start of the Jewish Church. For after the Flood there were three consecutive Churches.

[2] In regard to what has been said of the first Ancient Church - that though so wide-spread throughout the world, its lip was nevertheless one and its words one, that is, it shared one doctrine in its general aspects and in its particular details; but for all that, the forms of worship, internal as well as external, were everywhere divergent, as shown in the previous chapter where each nation that is mentioned meant a divergent form of doctrine and of ritual - the situation is as follows: Heaven consists of countless communities. They all vary, and yet all are one, for all are led as one by the Lord; see what has appeared already in 457, 551, 684, 685, 690. A parallel exists in man, in that although internally his body has so many parts, which, like his other organs and limbs, have so many inner parts, each functioning differently from any other, yet all of them, every single one, are nevertheless controlled as one by one soul. A parallel also exists with the human body, which has different ways of exerting its strength and of moving. Nevertheless all are controlled by one motion of the heart and one of the lungs, and together make one. The reason they are able to function as one in this way is that in heaven there is one single influx which is received by everyone according to his own disposition. This influx is an influx of affections from the Lord, from His mercy and life. And although there is one influx only, everything nevertheless conforms and follows as one. And this comes about through the mutual love shared by those in heaven.

[3] Such was the situation with the first Ancient Church that although there were so many forms of internal and external worship, at the general level as many as there were nations, at the specific level as many as there were families making up nations, and at the particular level as many as there were people in the Church, they all nevertheless had 'one lip' and 'their words were one'; that is, they all shared one doctrine in general and in particular. Doctrine is one when all possess mutual love, or charity. Mutual love or charity causes things, though varied, to be one, for it makes one out of varied things. If all, no matter how many - even ten thousand times ten thousand - are governed by charity or mutual love, they have but one end in view, namely the common good, the Lord's kingdom, and the Lord Himself. Variations in matters of doctrine and in forms of worship are like the variations that exist with the physical senses and with the inner parts of man's body, which, as stated, all contribute to the perfection of the whole. Indeed the Lord flows in and works by way of charity though in different ways according to the disposition of each individual. And in so doing He arranges every single person into a proper order, on earth as in heaven. In this way the Lord's will is done, as He Himself teaches, 'on earth as it is in heaven'.

4680. 'That their father loved him more than all his brothers' means that [the Lord's Divine Spiritual or Divine Truth] was joined to the Divine Natural - in the proximate sense, to the Ancient Church meant by 'father'. This is clear from the explanations given above in 4675, where similar words occur. The reason why in the proximate sense the meaning is that [the Lord's Divine Spiritual or Divine Truth] was joined to the Ancient Church, and why in that sense 'father' is used to mean that Church, is that in the proximate sense, as stated immediately above in 4679, the descendants of Jacob and therefore the Church that was represented among them are meant by 'Joseph's brothers'. This whole matter has been discussed several times already, but in view of the train of thought that occurs in what follows the main points will be restated briefly here.

[2] The Ancient Church established by the Lord after the Flood was a representative Church. It was the kind of Church in which the external features of its worship, every single one, represented the celestial and spiritual things belonging to the Lord's kingdom, and in the highest sense represented those Divine things which are the Lord's own. Every single internal aspect of its worship however had to do with charity. This Church was widespread in much of the Asiatic world and in many kingdoms there. And although differences existed among them so far as teachings about matters of faith were concerned, there was nevertheless one Church because all people everywhere made charity the essential element of the Church. People at that time who separated faith from charity and made faith the essential element of the Church were called Ham. But in process of time this Church turned aside to idolatrous practices, and in Egypt, Babylon, and other places to magical ones; for they began to worship external things devoid of anything internal. So because they departed from charity, heaven departed from them, and in its place spirits from hell came and led them.

[3] Once this Church had been laid in ruins a new Church originating in Eber came into being, which was called the Hebrew Church. This existed in Syria and Mesopotamia, and also among other nations in the land of Canaan. But it differed from the Ancient Church in that it made sacrifices the essential requirement of external worship. It did, it is true, acknowledge charity as the inner substance of worship, but not so much with the heart as the Ancient Church had done. This Church too became idolatrous.

[4] At length the Lord was pleased to establish a new type of Church among Abraham's descendants through Jacob and to introduce among that nation the external features of the worship of the Ancient Church. But that nation was the kind that could not accept anything internal constituting the Church because their hearts were utterly opposed to charity. For this reason no more than what was representative of the Church was set up among that nation. From this it is now clear that 'Jacob's sons' or 'Joseph's brothers' in the proximate sense means that kind of Church, and that 'Jacob their father' means the Ancient Church. Furthermore, in many other places in the Word, especially the prophetical part, 'Jacob' is used to mean the Ancient Church, in addition to which this Church - the Ancient - is frequently called 'father' or 'mother', 'father' to refer to its good and 'mother' to its truth. From this it is now evident that 'their father loved Joseph more than all his brothers' means that the Lord's Divine Truth was joined to the Ancient Church.