3956. 'And Leah said, God has given me my reward, because I gave my servant-girl to my husband' in the highest sense means Divine Good wedded to Truth, and Truth wedded to Good; in the internal sense heavenly conjugial love; and in the external sense mutual love. This becomes clear from the meaning of 'reward'. 'Reward' is mentioned in various places in the Word, but few know what is meant there by 'reward'. It is well known in the Churches that man can merit nothing through the good deeds which he performs, for the good deeds which he performs are not his but the Lord's, and that merit-seeking or the earning of merit has man himself in view and so joins itself to self-love and to thought of superiority over others, consequently to contempt for others. Works therefore which are done for the sake of reward are not good in themselves since they do not spring from a genuine source, that is to say, out of charity towards the neighbour. Charity towards the neighbour holds within itself the desire that the neighbour will fare as well as oneself, and in the case of the angels the desire that he will fare better than themselves. Such is the nature of the affection that goes with charity. Consequently the affection that goes with charity loathes all idea of merit and so every good action done with a view to reward. Reward for people who have charity consists in their having the ability to do good, in being allowed to do it, and in the recipient's willing acceptance of it. This is the actual delight, indeed blessing, that is present with people with whom the affection that goes with charity exists.

[2] This shows what is meant by 'reward' which is mentioned in the Word, namely the delight and blessing belonging to the affection that goes with charity, or what amounts to the same, the delight and blessing belonging to mutual love, 3816, for the affection that goes with charity is one and the same as mutual love; see what has been stated already on these matters in 1110, 1111, 1774, 1835, 1877, 2027, 2273, 2340, 2373, 2400. From these paragraphs it is evident that at this point 'reward' in the external sense means mutual love. In the sense higher than this, which is the internal sense, 'reward' means heavenly conjugial love, as may be seen from what has been stated already about the heavenly marriage in 2618, 2739, 2741, 2803, 3024 (end), 3132, 3952 - that is to say, it is the joining together of good and truth, and mutual love is the offspring of that conjunction or marriage, 2737, 2738. From all this one may see that in the internal sense 'reward' means heavenly conjugial love.

[3] As regards 'reward' meaning in the highest sense Divine Good wedded to Truth, and Truth wedded to Good, this is evident from the fact that from these comes the heavenly marriage. For that union of the two exists within the Lord and proceeds from Him; and when it passes into heaven, the conjugial relationship between good and truth is effected, and through this relationship mutual love exists. From what has been stated here and in what has gone before one may see what is meant in the internal sense by these words spoken by Leah, 'God has given me my reward, because I gave my servant-girl to my husband'; 'a servant-girl' has meant an affirmative means that serves in the joining together of the external man and the internal man, 3913, 3917, 3931. So until those things meant by the sons of the servant-girls have been affirmed and acknowledged no joining together of good and truth, and so no mutual love, is able to come about, for those affirmations must of necessity come first. These are the considerations meant by these words.

2027. 'And to your seed after you' means that He would give them to those who would have faith in Him. This is clear from the meaning of 'seed' as faith, dealt with in 1025, 1447, 1610, that is to say, the faith that is grounded in charity, dealt with in 379, 389, 654, 724, 809, 916, 1017, 1162, 1176, 1258. People who attach merit to the deeds they perform in life do not have the faith that is grounded in charity, and so are not those meant by 'the seed' here, for in so doing they do not wish to be saved by the Lord's righteousness but by their own. That no faith grounded in charity exists with them, that is, no charity, is clear from their habit of putting themselves before other people and so of having themselves in view and not other people, except insofar as the latter serve them. And those who are unwilling to serve them they either despise or hate. Thus through self-love they part company and never come together, and in this way they destroy that which is heavenly, namely mutual love, which is the mainstay of heaven. For it is in that love that heaven itself, and its whole companionship and harmony, continues to exist and consists. For whatever is destructive of the harmony existing in the next life is opposed to the order of heaven itself, and so contributes to the destruction of the whole. Such is the nature of people who attach merit to the deeds which they perform in life and lay claim to righteousness for themselves.

[2] There are many persons of this type in the next life. Sometimes their faces shine like torches, but this is because of the ignis fatuus that is the product of self-righteousness. They are in fact ice-cold. Sometimes they are seen running about and confirming self-merit from the literal sense of the Word, at the same time hating the truths that belong to the internal sense, 1877. The sphere emanating from them is one of self-regard, and so a sphere destructive of all ideas which do not regard self as some kind of deity. The sphere emanating from many such persons is at the same time so disruptive that nothing else than that which is hostile and antagonistic exists there, for when each has the same wish, namely to be served, he at heart slays every other.

[3] Some of them are numbered among those who say that they have worked in the Lord's vineyard. During all that time however they had been turning over in their minds how to further their own reputation, glory, and honour, and also their own enrichment, even to the point of their becoming the greatest in heaven and being served even by angels. Since at heart they despise others in comparison with themselves, they have accordingly not been endowed with any mutual love in which heaven consists but with self-love which they identify with heaven, for they do not know what heaven is. Regarding these people, see 450-452, 1594, 1679. They belong among those who wish to be first but become last, of whom the Lord speaks in Matthew 19:30; 20:16; Mark 10:31. They are also those who say that they have prophesied in the Lord's name and have done many mighty works, but of whom it is said, 'I do not know you', Matthew 7:22-23.

[4] The situation is different with people who from simplicity of heart have assumed that they have merited heaven but who have led charitable lives and who have not been captivated by self-love and so despised others in comparison with themselves. They have looked upon meriting heaven as a promise, and they readily acknowledge that it is a matter of the Lord's mercy, for a charitable life implies such acknowledgement. Charity itself loves all truth.