9373. Come up unto Jehovah. That this signifies conjunction with the Lord, is evident from the signification of “coming up,” as being to be raised toward interior things (see n. 3084, 4539, 4969, 5406, 5817, 6007), consequently also to be conjoined (n. 8760). That it denotes conjunction with the Lord, is because by “Jehovah” in the Word is meant the the Lord, (n. 1343, 1736, 1793, 2004, 2005, 2018, 2025, 2921, 3023, 3035, 5663, 6280, 6303, 6905, 8274, 8864, 9315). A secret which also lies hidden in the internal sense of these words, is that the sons of Jacob, over whom Moses was the head, were not called and chosen; but they themselves insisted that Divine worship should be instituted among them (according to wh at has been said in n. 4290, 4293); and therefore it is here said, “and He said unto Moses, Come up unto Jehovah,” as if not Jehovah, but another, had said that he should come up. For the same reason in what follows it is said that “the people should not go up” (verse 2); and that “Jehovah sent not His hand unto the sons of Israel who were set apart” (verse 11); and that “the appearance of the glory of Jehovah was like devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the eyes of the sons of Israel” (verse 17); and lastly that Moses, being called the seventh day, “entered into the midst of the cloud.” For by “the cloud” is meant the Word in the letter (n. 5922, 6343, 6752, 6832, 8106, 8443, 8781); and with the sons of Jacob the Word was separated from its internal sense, because they were in external worship without internal, as can be clearly seen from the fact that now, as before, they said, “all the words which Jehovah hath spoken we will do” (verse 3); and yet scarcely forty days afterward they worshiped a golden calf instead of Jehovah; which shows that this was hidden in their hearts while they were saying with their lips that they would serve Jehovah alone. But nevertheless those who are meant by “the called and the chosen” are those who are in internal worship, and who from internal worship are in external; that is, those who are in love to and faith in the Lord, and from this in love toward the neighbor.

3128. And told her mother’s house according to these words. That this signifies toward natural good of every kind whithersoever enlightenment could reach, is evident from the signification of the “mother’s house,” as being the good of the external man, that is, natural good. (That a “house” denotes good may be seen above, n. 2233, 2234, 2559; also that man’s external or natural is from the mother, but the internal from the father, n. 1815.) The good with man is compared in the Word to a “house,” and on this account a man who is in good is called a “house of God;” but internal good is called the “father’s house,” and the good that is in the same degree is called the “house of the brethren;” but external good, which is the same as natural good, is called the “mother’s house.” Moreover all good and truth are born in this manner, namely, by the influx of internal good as of a father into external good as of a mother.

[2] As this verse treats of the origin of the truth which is to be conjoined with good in the rational, it is therefore said that Rebekah (by whom this truth is represented) ran to the house of her mother, for that was the origin of this truth. For as before said and shown, all good flows in by an internal way (that is, by the way of the soul) into man’s rational, and through this into his faculty of knowing, even into that which is of the senses; and by enlightenment there it causes truths to be seen. Truths are called forth thence, and are divested of their natural form, and are conjoined with good in the midway, that is, in the rational, and at the same time they make the man rational, and at last spiritual. But how these things are accomplished is utterly unknown to man; because at this day it is scarcely known what good is, and that it is distinct from truth; still less that man is reformed by means of the influx of good into truth, and by the conjunction of the two; neither is it known that the rational is distinct from the natural. And when these things, which are most general, are not known, it cannot possibly be known how the initiation of truth into good, and the conjunction of the two, is effected-which are the subjects treated of in this chapter in its internal sense. But whereas these arcana have been revealed, and are manifest to those who are in good, that is, who are angelic minds, therefore however obscure they may appear to others, they nevertheless are to be set forth, because they are in the internal sense.

[3] Concerning the enlightenment from good through truth in the natural man, which is here called the “mother’s house,” the case is this: Divine good with man inflows into his rational, and through the rational into his natural, and indeed into its memory-knowledges, that is, into the knowledges and doctrinal things therein, as before said; and there by a fitting of itself in, it forms truths for itself, through which it then enlightens all things that are in the natural man. But if the life of the natural man is such that it does not receive the Divine good, but either repels it, or perverts it, or suffocates it, then the Divine good cannot be fitted in, thus it cannot form for itself truths; and consequently the natural can no longer be enlightened; for enlightenment in the natural man is effected from good through truths; and when there is no longer enlightenment, there can be no reformation. This is the reason why in the internal sense the natural man also is much treated of in regard to its quality; thus whence truth is, namely, that it is from good there.

6077. 'We have come to sojourn in the land' means a seeking to live in factual knowledge. This is clear from the meaning of 'sojourning' as receiving instruction, and also living, dealt with in 1467, 2025, so that 'coming to sojourn' means a seeking to live; and from the meaning of 'the land', in this case the land of Egypt, as the place where factual knowledge exists, and so as factual knowledge itself (it has been shown quite a number of times that 'Egypt' means factual knowledge). As to the idea that the life of truth exists within factual knowledge or that truths seek to live in factual knowledge, it should be recognized that all things in the spiritual world, and consequently all those in the natural world, seek something beyond themselves in which they can exist, acting as the cause within the effect, to the end that they may be producing something constantly. That something beyond them is so to speak the body, and what seeks to exist within it is so to speak the soul. This endeavour comes to an end only in the lowest aspects of the natural order in which inert substances occur. In the natural world this can be seen in specific examples; and it can also be seen in the spiritual world, in that there good seeks to live in truths, truths seek to live in factual knowledge, factual knowledge to live in sensory impressions, and sensory impressions in the world.

[2] As regards the specific matter of the presence of truths within factual knowledge, it should be recognized that interior truths can indeed be introduced into factual knowledge; but those truths do not have life until good exists within them. Good has life in it, but truths receive theirs from good; thus factual knowledge receives its life from good through truths. Good is in that case a kind of soul for truths, and through truths for factual knowledge, which is a kind of body. In short, charity towards the neighbour gives faith its life and soul, and through faith gives them to factual knowledge belonging to the natural mind.

[3] At the present day there are few who know that truths are distinct and separate from factual knowledge. The reason for this is that truths of faith which are rooted in charity exist with only few, and truths of faith that have no charity in them are no more than factual knowledge since they exist in the memory, no different from anything else there. But when truths of faith are rooted in charity, that is, have charity within them, they make themselves clearly distinct and separate from factual knowledge. Sometimes they lift themselves above it, in which case they look down on factual knowledge below them. This may be seen primarily from a person's state after death. In that state he can think and speak in a rational manner about the truths and goods of faith, and in a far more clear-sighted way than during his lifetime; yet he cannot draw out any factual knowledge from his memory. That knowledge exists with him as things that lie forgotten and removed from sight, even though he retains it all, see 2475-2477, 2479, 2480-2486. From this it may be seen that the truths of faith, which are essentially spiritual, are distinct and separate from factual knowledge, which is essentially natural, and that the truths of faith are lifted up from factual knowledge towards heaven by means of an affection for the good of charity.