3157. Now if ye will do mercy and truth with my lord. That this signifies exploration of the consent from each of their faculties, that of the will, and that of the understanding, is evident from the signification of “mercy,” as being what is of good or of love (see n. 3063, 3073, 3120); and from the signification of “truth,” as being what is of truth, or of faith (n. 3121, 3122) and because the good which is of love is of the will, and the truth which is of faith is of the understanding, and these things are said to Laban and Bethuel, thus to men, that they should do mercy and truth, they signify what is from each of their faculties, namely, the will and the understanding. That it is exploration of consent, is evident both from its being said, “if ye will do,” and from the words that follow, “tell me; and if not, tell me; and I will look to the right hand or to the left.” In the regeneration of man, which is an image of the Lord’s glorification (see n. 3138), the case is that the truth of faith is indeed learned, but is not acknowledged, still less received by good, unless there is consent from each faculty, namely, the will and the understanding. Consent is acknowledgment itself; by this is effected reception, and indeed from the will, for good is there; and when the truth of faith has been received by the will, or what is the same, by good, then the man is regenerate; for then truth is of good, or faith is of charity, or as to life is charity itself (n. 3121).

3138. These three verses treat of the preparation and enlightenment of the natural man in order that the truth might be called forth thence which was to be conjoined with good in the rational. But with preparation and enlightenment the case is as follows: There are two lights which form the intellectual things of man-the light of heaven, and the light of the world; the light of heaven is from the Lord, who to angels in the other life is a Sun and Moon (see n. 1053, 1521, 1529, 1530); the light of the world is from the sun and moon which appear before the bodily sight. The internal man has its sight and its understanding from the light of heaven; but the external man has its sight and its understanding from the light of the world. The influx of the light of heaven into the things which are of the world’s light, effects enlightenment and at the same time observance; an observance of truth if there is correspondence, and an observance of falsity instead of truth if there is not correspondence. But enlightenment and observance are impossible unless there is affection or love, which is spiritual heat, and which gives life to the things that are enlightened by the light; comparatively as the sun’s light does not give life to the things of the vegetable kingdom, but the heat that is in the light, as is evident from the seasons of the year.

[2] In the verses which next follow, the preparation is further described-namely, that the light of heaven which is the Lord’s Divine light inflowed into the things that were of the light of the world in His natural man, in order that He might bring out thence the truth which was to be conjoined with good in the rational; thus by the ordinary way. And therefore in order that the Lord might make the human Divine by the ordinary way, He came into the world; that is, it was His will to be born as a man, and to be instructed as a man, and to be reborn as a man; but with the difference that man is reborn of the Lord, whereas the Lord not only regenerated Himself, but also glorified Himself, that is, made Himself Divine; and further, that a man is made new by an influx of charity and faith, but the Lord, by the Divine love which was in Him and which was His. Hence it may be seen that the regeneration of man is an image of the glorification of the Lord; or what is the same, that in the process of the regeneration of man may be seen as in an image, although remotely, the process of the Lord’s glorification.