3235. And Abraham added, and took a woman. That this signifies another state of the Lord, whom Abraham represents, and that Abraham and Sarah represented the Lord as to the Divine celestial, and Abraham and Keturah as to the Divine spiritual, is evident from the things hitherto said and shown concerning Abraham and Sarah his wife, and from those here related concerning Abraham and Keturah. But as it is said that Abraham here represents another state of the Lord, and that Abraham and Sarah represented the Lord as to the Divine celestial, but Abraham and Keturah the Lord as to the Divine spiritual, it should be known what the Divine celestial is, and what the Divine spiritual.

[2] The Divine celestial and the Divine spiritual are such in respect to those who receive the Divine of the Lord, for the Lord appears to everyone according to the nature of him who receives, as may be seen from what has been said above (n. 1838, 1861), and is clearly manifest from the fact that the Lord appears in one way to the celestial, but in another to the spiritual; for to the celestial He appears as a sun, but to the spiritual as a moon (n. 1529-1531, 1838). The Lord appears to the celestial as a sun, because they are in celestial love, that is, in love to the Lord; but to the spiritual as a moon, because they are in spiritual love, that is, in charity toward the neighbor. The difference is like that between the light of the sun in the daytime and the light of the moon by night; it is also like the difference between the heat of the one and the heat of the other, from which springs vegetation. This is what is meant in the first chapter of Genesis by the words:

And God made two great lights, the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night (Genesis 1:16).

[3] Speaking generally, the Lord’s kingdom is both celestial and spiritual; that is, it consists of those who are celestial, and of those who are spiritual. And it is because the Divine of the Lord appears to the celestial as celestial, and to the spiritual as spiritual, that it is here said that Abraham and Sarah represented the Lord as to the Divine celestial, and that Abraham and Keturah represented Him as to the Divine spiritual. But as scarcely any know what the celestial is and what the spiritual, or who the celestial and the spiritual are, see what has already been said and shown concerning them, namely: What the celestial is, and what the spiritual (n. 1155, 1577, 1824, 2048, 2184, 2227, 2507): Who are celestial and who are spiritual (n. 2088, 2669, 2708, 2715): That the celestial man is a likeness of the Lord and does good from love, and the spiritual man is an image of the Lord and does good from faith (n. 50-52, 1013): That the celestial perceive truth from good, and that they never reason concerning truth (n. 202, 337, 607, 895, 1121, 2715): That in the celestial man good is implanted in his will part, but in the spiritual man it is implanted in his intellectual part, and that in this part a new will is created in those who are spiritual (n. 863, 875, 895, 897, 927, 1023, 1043, 1044, 2256): That the celestial from good itself see indefinite things, but that the spiritual, because they reason whether a thing is so, cannot attain to the first boundary of the light of the celestial (n. 2718): That the spiritual are in relative obscurity (n. 1043, 2708, 2715): That the Lord came into the world in order to save the spiritual (n. 2661, 2716, 2833, 2834).

2049. From every son that is a stranger who is not of thy seed. That this signifies those who are outside the church, is evident from the signification of “son that is a stranger,” as being those who are not born within the church, thus are not in the goods and truths of faith, because not in the knowledges of them. “Sons that are strangers” also signify those who are in external worship (concerning whom, n. 1097); but where this is the meaning, those who are within the church are treated of, whereas in the passage before us the Lord’s church in the universal is treated of, and therefore “sons that are strangers” signify those who are not born within the church, as is the case with the Gentiles. Gentiles, who are outside the church, may be in truths, but not in the truths of faith. Their truths, like the precepts of the Decalogue, are that parents are to be honored, that men are not to kill, steal, commit adultery, or covet things that belong to others; also that the Deity is to be worshiped. But the truths of faith are all doctrinal things concerning eternal life, the Lord’s kingdom, and the Lord Himself, which cannot be known to the Gentiles because they have not the Word.

[2] These are they who are signified by “sons that are strangers who are not of thy seed,” and yet were to be circumcised, that is purified, together with them. This shows that they can be purified, equally with those within the church; as was represented by their being circumcised. They are purified when they reject filthy loves, and live with one another in charity; for then they live in truths, since all truths are of charity; but in the truths already mentioned. They who live in these truths readily imbibe the truths of faith, if not in the life of the body, yet in the other life, because the truths of faith are the interior truths of charity, and they then love nothing more than to be admitted into the interior truths of charity. The interior truths of charity are those in which the Lord’s kingdom consists (see n. 932, 1032, 1059, 1327, 1328, 1366)

[3] In the other life a memory-knowledge of the knowledges of faith is of no avail, for the worst, nay, the infernals, can be in the memory-knowledge of them, sometimes more than others; but that which avails is a life according to the knowledges, for all knowledges have life as their end. Unless knowledges were learned for the sake of life, they would be of no use except that men might talk about them, and thereby be esteemed learned in the world, be exalted to honors, and gain reputation and wealth. From this it is evident that a life of the knowledges of faith is no other than a life of charity; for the Law and the Prophets, that is, the universal doctrine of faith together with all its knowledges, consists in love to the Lord and in love toward the neighbor; as is manifest to all from the Lord’s words in Matthew 22:34-39 and Mark 12:28-35

[4] But still doctrinal things, that is, the knowledges of faith, are most necessary for forming the life of charity, which cannot be formed without them. This is the life that saves after death, and by no means any life of faith without it; for without charity there cannot be any life of faith. They who are in the life of love and charity are in the Lord’s life, and by no other life can anyone be conjoined with Him. Hence also it is evident that the truths of faith can never be acknowledged as truths, that is, the acknowledgment of them so much talked of is impossible, except outwardly, and by the mouth, unless they are implanted in charity; for inwardly or in the heart they are denied, since, as already said, they all have charity as their end; and if this is not within them they are inwardly rejected. When the exteriors are taken away-as is done in the other life-the interiors are manifest in their true character, in that they are utterly contrary to all the truths of faith. When men have had no life of charity-that is, no mutual love-during their bodily life, it is utterly impossible to receive it in the other life, because they are averse to and hate it, for after death the same life remains with us that we have lived here. When such persons merely approach a society where there is the life of mutual love, they tremble, shudder, and feel torture.

[5] Such persons, although born within the church, are called “sons that are strangers, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh,” who are not to be admitted into the sanctuary, that is, into the Lord’s kingdom; and who are also meant in Ezekiel:

No son that is a stranger, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, shall enter into My sanctuary (Ezekiel 44:7, 9).

Again:

To whom art thou thus become like in glory and in greatness among the trees of Eden? and thou shalt be brought down with the trees of Eden into the lower earth, thou shalt lie in the midst of the uncircumcised with them that are slain by the sword (Ezekiel 31:18); where Pharaoh is treated of, by whom are signified memory-knowledges in general (n. 1164, 1165, 1186, 1462); by “the trees of Eden” with which they should go down into the lower earth, are also signified memory-knowledges, but those of the knowledges of faith. All this shows what “the uncircumcised” is in the internal sense, namely, one who is in filthy loves and the life of them.