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.

2643. 'Who would have said to Abraham, Sarah will suckle sons?' means that by His own power the Lord implanted the Human within the Divine. This is clear from the representation of 'Abraham' and also of 'Sarah', and from the meaning of 'suckling', and of 'sons'. It has been shown already that 'Abraham' represents Divine Good and 'Sarah' Divine Truth. 'Milk' means that which is spiritual from a celestial origin, that is, truth deriving from good, see 2184, so that 'suckling' means implanting that truth; And 'sons' means truths, here truths that exist in the Rational, as is clear from the meaning of 'sons', 489-491, 533. The reason why in the internal sense the words under consideration mean that the Lord by His own power implanted the Human within the Divine is that Divine Truth is one and the same as the Divine Human, and when in reference to this it is said 'to suckle sons for Abraham' the meaning is that He implanted the Human within the Divine; and as it was the Human He implanted, He did so by His own power. But scarcely any clearer and more intelligible explanation of these matters is possible. To say more would obscure still further what is meant; for these are Divine matters, which can be presented to angels alone by means of celestial and spiritual things. If presented to men in some more exalted manner those matters would fall into the material and bodily ideas which men possess.

[2] What is more, it should be recognized that it is the nature of the Lord's Divine Rational when it was first born that is being described by these words, 'God has made laughter for me; everyone that hears will laugh for me; and she said, Who would have said to Abraham, Sarah will suckle sons?' For this was in keeping with an ancient custom that when an infant was born it was given a name which served to mean the state; and at the same time a description of that state was added, as when Cain was born to Eve and Adam, Genesis 4:1, and when Seth was born to the same, Genesis 4:25; and as when Noah was born to Lamech, Genesis 5:29, Esau and Jacob to Isaac, Genesis 25:25-26, the twelve sons to Jacob, Genesis 29:32-35; 30:6, 8, 11, 13, 18, 20, 24; 35:18, Perez and Zerah to Tamar, Genesis 38:29-30, Manasseh and Ephraim to Joseph, Genesis 41:51-52, and Gershom and Eliezer to Moses, Exodus 2:22; 18:4. What all these represent, and what they mean in the internal sense, was embodied in the descriptions added to the names that were given. The same is the case here with what Isaac represents and means. What this name embodies is evident to some small extent from this brief explanation that has been given, but deeper arcana are nevertheless concealed there since they are Divine matters, which no sentences or phrases can be formed to express.