4447. 'Hamor spoke to them, saying' means the good of the Church among the Ancients. This is clear from the representation of 'Hamor' as that which was received from the Ancients, dealt with in 4431, namely the good of the Church received from them, for the good of the Church is 'a father', and the truth derived from that good, meant here by 'Shechem', is 'a son' - which also is why 'father' in the Word means good, and 'son' truth. The expression 'the good of the Church among the Ancients' is used here, not the good of the Ancient Church, for the reason that the phrase 'the Church among the Ancients' is used to mean the Church that descended from the Most Ancient Church which existed before the Flood, whereas the Ancient Church is used to mean the Church which came into existence after the Flood. Those two Churches have been dealt with several times previous to this, when it has been shown that the Most Ancient Church which existed before the Flood was celestial whereas the Ancient Church which came into existence after the Flood was spiritual. The difference between the two has also been dealt with often.

[2] Remnants of the Most Ancient Church which was celestial were still in existence in the land of Canaan, especially among those in that land who were called Hittites and Hivites. The reason why such remnants did not exist anywhere else was that the Most Ancient Church, which was called Man or Adam, 478, 479, existed in the land of Canaan, where the garden of Eden, which meant the intelligence and wisdom of the members of that Church, 100, 1588, and the trees in it their perception, 103, 2163, 2722, 2972, was therefore situated. And because intelligence and wisdom were meant by that garden or paradise the Church itself is also meant by it. And because the Church is meant, so also is heaven; and because heaven is meant, so also in the highest sense is the Lord. So it is that in the highest sense the land of Canaan also means the Lord, in the relative sense heaven and also the Church, and in the personal sense the member of the Church, 1413, 1437, 1607, 3038, 3481, 3705. So it is too that the word 'land' standing by itself in the Word has a similar meaning, 566, 662, 1066, 1067, 1413, 1607, 3355; while a new heaven and a new earth mean a new Church, internally and externally, 1733, 1850, 2117, 2118 (end), 3355 (end). The Most Ancient Church was situated in the land of Canaan, see 567, and it was from this that places there became representative. It explains why Abram was commanded to go there, and also why the land was given to his descendants from Jacob, namely that the representatives connected with the places which were to be used in the composition of the Word might be perpetuated, 3686. This was why every place in that land, including mountains and rivers, and also all the borders surrounding it, became representative, 1585, 1866, 4240.

[3] From all these considerations one may see what the expression 'Church among the Ancients' is used to mean, namely remnants of the Most Ancient Church. And because those remnants existed among the Hittites and Hivites, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, with their wives, acquired a burial-place among the Hittites in their land, Genesis 23:1-end; Genesis 49:29-32; 50:13; and Joseph among the Hivites, Joshua 24:32. Hamor, Shechem's father, represented the remnants of that Church, and as a consequence means the good of the Church among the Ancients and therefore the origin of interior truth from a Divine stock, 4399. What the difference is between the Most Ancient Church which existed before the Flood and the Ancient Church which came into existence after the Flood, see 597, 607, 608, 640, 641, 765, 784, 895, 920, 1114-1128, 1238, 1327, 2896, 2897.

9315. 'When My angel goes before you' means a life in keeping with the Lord's commandments. This is clear from the meaning of 'going before you' - when it refers to the Lord, who is 'the angel of Jehovah' here - as teaching the commandments of faith and life, and therefore also a life in keeping with those commandments, ('going' and 'travelling on' mean living, see 1293, 3335, 4882, 5493, 5605, 8417, 8420, 8557, 8559); and from the meaning of 'the angel of Jehovah' as the Lord's Divine Human, dealt with above in 9303, 9306. The reason why the Lord's Divine Human is meant by 'the angel' is that the numerous angels who appeared in times before the Lord's Coming into the world were Jehovah Himself in human form, that is, in that of an angel. This is plainly evident from the fact that angels who appeared were called Jehovah, such as those who appeared to Abraham and are spoken of in Genesis 18. The fact that they were called Jehovah may be seen in verses 1, 13, 14, 17, 20, 26, 33, of that chapter, as was the one who appeared to Gideon and is spoken of in Judges 6. The fact that this angel too was called Jehovah may be seen in verses 12, 14, 16, 22-24, of that chapter. The same may be seen in other places besides these. Jehovah Himself in human form, or what amounts to the same thing, in that of an angel, was the Lord.

[2] His Divine Human appeared in those times as an angel, of whom the Lord Himself speaks in John,

Jesus said, Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and saw it and was glad. Truly, truly, I say to you, Before Abraham was, I am. John 8:56, 58.

And in the same gospel,

Father, glorify Me in Your Own Self with the glory I had with You before the world was. John 17:5.

Jehovah could not have appeared in any other way, as is again clear from the Lord's words, in John,

You have never heard the Father's voice nor seen His shape. John 5:37.

And in the same gospel,

No one has seen the Father except Him who is with God, ¹ He has seen the Father. John 6:46.

From all this one may see what is meant by 'the Lord from eternity'.

[3] The reason why the Lord was pleased to be born as Man (Homo) was in order that He might in reality take on a Humanity and make it Divine, to save the human race. Know therefore that the Lord is Jehovah Himself or the Father in human form, as yet again the Lord Himself teaches in John,

I and the Father are one. John 10:30.

In the same gospel,

Jesus said, From now on you know and have seen the Father. He who has seen Me has seen the Father. Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me. John 14:7, 9, 11.

And in the same gospel,

All Mine are Yours, and all Yours are Mine. John 17:10.

[4] This great mystery is described in John in the following words,

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the Only Begotten from the Father. Nobody has ever seen God; the only begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father, He has made Him known. John 1:1-3, 14, 18.

'The Word' is Divine Truth which has been revealed to mankind; and since it could not have been revealed except by Jehovah as Man, that is, except by Jehovah in human form, thus by the Lord, it says, 'In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God'. It is well known in the Church that 'the Word' is used to mean the Lord, for it is explicitly stated, 'The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the Only Begotten from the Father'. The fact that Divine Truth could not have been revealed to mankind except by Jehovah in human form is also clearly stated, 'Nobody has ever seen God; the only begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father, He has made Him known'.

[5] From all this it is evident that the Lord from eternity was Jehovah or the Father in human form, but not yet so in earthly flesh, for an angel does not have such flesh. And since Jehovah or the Father wished to take on everything human in order to save the human race, He also took flesh. This is why it says, The Word was God, and the Word became flesh, and in Luke,

See My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself; handle Me and see; for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see Me have. Luke 24:39.

By this the Lord taught that He was no longer Jehovah under the form of an angel but that He was Jehovah as Man. This is also what the following words spoken by the Lord serve to mean,

I came out from the Father and have come into the world; again I am leaving the world and going off to the Father. John 16:28.

The Lord made His Human Divine when He was in the world, see 1616, 1725, 1813, 1921, 2025, 2026, 2033, 2034, 2083, 2523, 2751, 2798, 3038, 3043, 3212, 3241, 3318 (end), 3637, 3737, 4065, 4180, 4211, 4237, 4286, 4585, 4687, 4692, 4724, 4738, 4766, 5005, 5045, 5078, 5110, 5256, 6373, 6700, 6716, 6849, 6864, 6872, 7014, 7211, 7499, 8547, 8864, 8865, 8878.

And everything human received from the mother was cast out, till at length He was not Mary's son, 2159, 2649, 2776, 4963, 5157, and especially 3704, 4727, 9303, 9306, as well as the things shown regarding these matters in the places referred to in 9194, 9199.

Bilješke:

3705. 'The land on which you are lying I will give to you' means that the good on which the Natural rested was His own in origin. This is clear from the meaning of 'the land' here as the good of the natural, dealt with below; from the meaning of 'on which you are lying' as on which it rested; and from the meaning of 'giving it to you' as His own in origin, also dealt with below. The reason 'the land' means the good of the natural, which Jacob will represent from now on, is that 'the land of Canaan' means the Lord's kingdom, 1413, 1437, 1585, 1607, 1866. And since it means the Lord's kingdom it also means in the highest sense the Lord, 3038 - for the Lord is the All in all of His kingdom, and anything there which does not originate in Him and have regard to Him is not part of His kingdom. The Lord's kingdom is also meant in the Word by 'heaven and earth', ¹ 1733, 1850, 2117, 2118 (end), though in this case the interior of that kingdom is meant by 'heaven' and the exterior by 'earth', 82, 1411, 1733, 3355 (end). Consequently 'heaven' in the highest sense means the Lord as regards His Divine Rational and 'earth' as regards His Divine Natural. Here therefore 'the land on which you are lying' means the Good of the Natural on which the Natural, represented by 'Jacob', rested. For 'Jacob' represents the Lord's Divine Natural, as stated many times above.

[2] Furthermore the word 'land' has various meanings, see 620, 636, 1066, 2571, 3368, 3379, the reason being that Canaan, which is called the Holy Land, means the Lord's kingdom in general; and when 'heaven' is mentioned together with 'earth', 'heaven' in that case means, as has been stated, that which is interior, 'earth' that which is exterior. This being so it also means the Lord's kingdom on earth, that is, the Church; and having that meaning, it also means a person who is the Lord's kingdom or who is the Church. With that person 'heaven' accordingly means that which is interior, 'earth' that which is exterior; or what amounts to the same, 'heaven' is the rational and 'earth' the natural since the rational exists more interiorly with man and the natural more exteriorly. And since 'land' [or 'earth'] has all these meanings it also means that which a person puts into effect - namely the good of love which he receives from the Divine - so that he may become the Lord's kingdom. From this it is evident in what way the meaning of 'land' in the Word varies.

[3] 'I will give to you' means that in origin it was His own. This becomes clear from the meaning of 'giving' in the Word when used in reference to the Lord, for as shown just above, the Lord is Divine Good and also Divine Truth, the former being called 'the Father' and the latter 'the Son'. Now because Divine Good is His and consequently that which is His own, it follows that 'giving to you', when spoken by Jehovah and used in reference to the Lord, means that which was His own in origin. From this one may see what is meant in the internal sense by the Lord's frequent reference to the Father's having given to Him - that is to say, to Himself, the Lord - as in John,

Father, glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You, as You have given Him power over all flesh, in order that all You have given Him, to them He may give eternal life. I have glorified You on earth; I have accomplished the work which You gave Me to do. I have manifested Your name to the men whom You gave Me out of the world; Yours they were, and You gave them to Me. Now they know that everything which You have given Me is from You; for the words which You gave Me I have given to them. I am praying for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours; for all things that are Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine. John 17:1-2, 4, 6-10.

Each reference here to the Father's giving means originating in the Divine Good that was His, and so in that which was His own.

[4] From this one may see how great an arcanum lies within the particular words spoken by the Lord, and also how greatly different the sense of the letter is from the internal sense, and more so from the highest sense. The Lord spoke in this fashion in order that mankind which at that time had no knowledge at all of any Divine truth might nevertheless be enabled in its own way to grasp and so accept the Word, while angels did so in theirs, for the angels knew that Jehovah and He were one and that the Father was Divine Good. For this reason also they knew that when He spoke of the Father giving to Him He would be giving to Himself and so drawing on what was His own.

Bilješke: