3607. 'The days of mourning for my father are approaching, and I will kill Jacob my brother' means an inversion, and the removal from truth of the life from itself. This is clear from the meaning of 'the days of mourning' as an inversion of state, and from the meaning of 'killing his brother Jacob' as removing from truth the life from itself. These matters are similar to those discussed just above about hatred not being meant in the internal sense by 'hatred'. The same is also evident from things that are happening all the time in the next life. In that life all good flowing down from heaven to those under the influence of evil is converted into that which is evil, and among those in hell into that which is an opposite of that good; and truth in a similar way is converted into falsity, see 2123. Conversely therefore, that which exists as evil and falsity among such evil spirits as these exists in heaven as good and truth; and to turn this into what is good, there are spirits along the way who remove ideas of evil and falsity so that an idea of good and truth may present itself. Concerning that removal, see 1393, 1875. Furthermore when evil and falsity reach people with whom good and truth are present they are not seen as evil and falsity but under some other form determined by the disposition and state of the goodness that exists with them.

[2] From this it may also be seen that 'killing Jacob his brother' does not mean in the internal sense killing but the removal of that life which does not properly belong to truth. For of itself truth has no life except from good, truth being merely a vessel for receiving good, see 1496, 1832, 1900, 2063, 2261, 2269, 2697, 3049, 3068, 3128, 3146, 3318, 3387. It is in good that life lies, but not in truth unless it receives it from good 1589, and many other paragraphs. Consequently the removal from truth of the life from itself does not destroy truth but gives it life, for when truth seems to possess life from itself it does not possess any life at all other than that which is not life in itself. But when that life from itself is removed, life itself is then conferred on it, that is to say, the life received by way of good from the Lord, who is life itself.

[3] This is plain to see in those in the next life with whom truth alone exists. Their ideas appear closed, so much so that things of heaven are unable to flow in except in so general a way that it is scarcely recognized as being influx from that source. But the ideas of those with whom good as well as truth exists appear to be open, so much so that things of heaven flow so to speak into a miniature heaven or an image of themselves, for such things flow by way of the good present with those persons into the truths, see 1869, 2429. The fact that truth has the life from itself removed from it when good starts to occupy the prior position or to have dominion may be seen from what has been stated and shown already about the apparent priority of truth in the first stage and about the priority of good later on. It is this removal from truth of life from itself that is meant here. The reason why these matters are referred to as 'mourning for a father' is that 'the days of mourning' means an inversion of state, the inversion of state that was meant above in verse 33 by Isaac's 'trembling very greatly', 3593, and in verse 34 by Esau's crying out 'with a loud and bitter cry', 3597.

3387. 'For he was afraid to say, My wife, [thinking,] The men of the place may perhaps kill me on account of Rebekah' means that it was impossible for Divine Truths themselves to be disclosed, and so for Divine Good to be received. This is clear from the meaning of 'being afraid to say' as an inability to disclose; from the meaning of 'wife', who is Rebekah here, as the Lord's Divine Rational in respect to Divine Truth, dealt with in 3012, 3013, 3077; from the meaning of 'killing me' as good not being received, for 'Isaac', to whom 'me' refers here, represents the Divine Good of the Lord's Rational, 3012, 3194, 3210 - good being said 'to be killed' or to perish when it is not received, for it ceases to exist with that person; and from the meaning of 'the men of the place' as people who possess matters of doctrine concerning faith, dealt with just above in 3385. From these meanings it is now evident what the internal sense of these words is, namely: If Divine truths themselves were disclosed they would not be received by those who possess matters of doctrine concerning faith because those truths go beyond the whole range of their rational grasp of things, and so go beyond the whole of their faith, and as a consequence of this no good at all could flow in from the Lord. For good from the Lord, or Divine good, cannot flow in except into truths, for truths are the vessels for good, as shown many times.

[2] Truths or appearances of truth are given to a person to enable Divine Good to develop the understanding part of his mind, and so the person himself, for truths exist to the end that good may flow in. Indeed without vessels or receptacles good has nowhere to go, for it can find no condition answering to itself. Where no truths exist therefore, that is, where they have not been received, neither does any rational or human good exist; and as a consequence the person does not possess any spiritual life. Therefore, so that a person may nevertheless possess truths, and from these receive spiritual life, appearances of truth are given, to everyone according to his ability to grasp them; and these appearances are acknowledged as truths because they have the capacity to hold Divine things within them.

[3] So that it may be known what appearances are and that they are what serve a person as Divine truths, let the following be used by way of illustration: If man were told that in heaven angels have no concept of place, and so no concept of distance, but that instead they have concepts of state, he could not possibly grasp it, for he would suppose from this that nothing distinct and separate existed but that everything was fused together, that is to say, all the angels were together in a single place. Yet everything there is so distinct and separate that nothing could ever be more so. Places, distances, and intervals of space which exist in the natural order exist in heaven as states, see 3356. From this it is evident that all the things that are stated in the Word about places and intervals of space between objects, also ideas that are formed from these and expressed through them, are appearances of truth; and unless everything were stated by means of those appearances it would in no way be received and would as a consequence be scarcely anything; for the concept of space and time is present in almost every single detail of a person's thought as long as he is in the world, that is, living within space and time.

[4] The fact that the Word speaks according to appearances involving space is clear from almost every single part of it, as in Matthew,

Jesus said, How is it that David says, The Lord [said] to my Lord, Sit at My right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool? Matthew 22:43-44.

Here the expression 'sitting at the right hand' is derived from the concept of place and so according to the appearance - when in fact it is a state of the Lord's Divine power which is described by that expression. In the same gospel,

Jesus said, Hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of power and coming on the clouds of heaven. Matthew 26:64.

Here similarly 'sitting at the right hand' and also 'coming on clouds' are expressions derived from men's concept of place, whereas the concept angels have is one of the state of the Lord's power. In Mark,

The sons of Zebedee said to Jesus, Grant us to sit in Your glory, one on Your right hand and the other on Your left. Jesus replied, To sit at My right hand and at My left is not Mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared. Mark 10:37, 40.

From this it is evident what kind of concept the disciples had of the Lord's kingdom, that is to say, one that involved sitting on the right hand and on the left. Such being the concept they had of it the Lord also replied to them in a way they could understand and so by an appearance that could be seen by them.

[5] In David,

Like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, he rejoices as a mighty man to run the course. From the end of the heavens is His going forth, and His circuit to the ends of them. Psalms 19:5-6.

This refers to the Lord, the state of whose Divine power is described by means of such things as belong to space. In Isaiah,

How you have fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the dawn! You said in your heart, I will go up into the heavens, above the stars of God ¹ I will raise my throne. I will go up above the heights of the clouds. Isaiah 14:12-14.

'Falling from heaven', 'going up the heavens', 'raising a throne above the stars of God', 'going up above the heights of the clouds' are all expressions derived from the concept and appearance of space or a place, and are used to describe self-love profaning holy things. Since celestial and spiritual things are presented to man by means of and according to visual objects like these, heaven too is therefore described as being on high when in fact it is not on high but in that which is internal, 450, 1380, 2148.

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