Verses 1-5. That revelation of the eternal Word made flesh is imparted to all who are in the love of truth for its own sake.

Verses 5-26. His representative as to the Word must teach the doctrine of repentance and faith in Him, the origin of which doctrine is described.

Verses 5-7. As being born from celestial good and truth.

Verses 8-18. And announced by the most high, as being instrumental in promoting purification from evils and falsities, and thus preparing mankind for the reception of good and of truth.

Verses 18-24. Nevertheless this doctrine is not admitted without doubt respecting it, the effect of which doubt is manifested in the inability to make confession of the Lord, and to preach faith in Him.

Verses 23-25. Notwithstanding however this doubt, the doctrine of repentance and faith gains confirmation, though as yet it is seen only obscurely.

Verses 26-34. It is at the same time announced from heaven, that Jehovah will come into the world, and that the Humanity, which He will assume, is the Son of god, by virtue of the Divinity from whom it came forth.

Verses 29-34. Which annunciation causes trouble and surprise, until information is given, that to that Humanity will be transferred the All of Divinity, so that in it Divinity and Humanity will be one, and in that one-ness will have rule over all things of heaven and the church.

Verses 34-36. Since the Humanity is born from the Divine Good and Divine Truth, which is Jehovah.

Verses 36-38. And preparation is made for its reception, through the doctrine of repentance and faith, which was to be taught in the church.

Verses 39-46. That on this occasion, the internal affection of good and of truth in the church is conjoined with the external, so that the productions of the latter become vivified, and the latter affection itself is made holy by virtue of it's exaltation of the former.

Verses 47-51. The former affection, at the same time, exalts the Divine Good and Divine Truth above all things, under a devout sense of the Divine mercy, which attends to the lowest concerns of man, and is ever operative in good to those who desire good.

Verses 51-54. And which assumed a Humanity, that through it the hells might be subdued, and a new church might be established, to which divine good might be imparted, and in which, truth separate from good might be rejected.

Verse 55. As had been predicted.

Verses 56-59. That for this purpose the doctrine of repentance and faith in the incarnate god is taught in the church, to the great joy of those who receive it.

Verses 59-64. The quality of which doctrine is described, as being grounded in the Divine love and mercy.

Verses 64-66. So that they, who acknowledge this quality, are enabled to make confession of the Lord, and to preach faith in Him, exciting devout adoration in all who hear them.

Verses 68-73. Because they teach from Divine truth, that Jehovah assumed a Humanity, for the purpose of effecting redemption and salvation, by conjoining Himself with His church.

Verses 73-76. And that His church, being thus purified from evils and falsities, might be reciprocally conjoined with Him, through the reception of His love and wisdom.

Verses 76-80. Therefore the doctrine of repentance and faith in the incarnate god is of Divine origin, being intended to prepare man for the reception of the Divine mercy, through the removal of all opposing principles, and through the communication of the light of Divine truth, by virtue of which the church would be delivered from the falsities of evil.

Verse 80. Which doctrine is more and more confirmed, though for a time it is received by few.

4601. 'That Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his father's concubine' means the profanation of good by means of faith separated from charity; 'and Israel heard' means that this faith was cast aside. This is clear from the representation of 'Reuben' as faith present in doctrine and in the understanding, which is the attribute of the Church that is born first, dealt with in 3861, 3866, at this point when that faith has been separated from charity, dealt with below; and from the meaning of 'lying with Bilhah his father's concubine' as the profanation of good, for committing adultery means perverting or adulterating forms of good, 2466, 2729, 3399, but 'lying with a father's concubine' profaning them; and from the meaning of 'Israel heard' as the fact that this faith was cast aside. In the proper sense the expression 'Israel heard' means that the spiritual Church knew this and assented to it, for 'hearing' means hearkening, while 'Israel' means the spiritual Church. But the fact that the true Church does not assent to it will be evident from what is going to be said about Reuben. In the internal sense however the meaning is that that faith was cast aside, for although Jacob's feelings and thoughts concerning this unmentionable and outrageous deed are not stated, his utter disgust and abhorrence is evident from his prophecy concerning Reuben,

Reuben, you my firstborn, are my strength and the beginning of my might, excelling in eminence, and excelling in power. Unstable as water, may you not excel, for you went up to your father's bed; then you profaned It. He went up to my couch. Genesis 49:3-4.

The same is also evident from the fact that because of what he did Reuben was deprived of the birthright, 1 Chronicles 5:1. These considerations show that 'Israel heard' means that that faith was cast aside. As regards the birthright meaning the faith of the Church, see 352, 2435, 3325.

[2] The profanation of good by faith separated from charity takes place when people acknowledge and believe the truth of the Church and its good and yet lead lives contrary to these. Indeed with those who in understanding and consequently in life separate matters of faith from those of charity, evil is joined to truth and falsity to good; and it is this joining together that is called profanation. The situation is different with those who, though they know what the truth and good of faith are, nevertheless do not in their hearts have any belief in these. See what has been stated and shown already concerning profanation in 301-303, 571, 582, 593, 1001, 1003, 1008, 1010, 1059, 1327, 1328, 2051, 2426, 3398, 3399, 3402, 3489, 3898, 4050, 4289; also that the profanation of good by faith separated from charity was represented by Cain when he killed Abel, by Ham when he was cursed by his father, and by the Egyptians when they were drowned in the Red Sea, 3325, ¹ as well as here by Reuben, 3325, 3870.

[3] In order that members of the spiritual Church might be saved the Lord miraculously separated the understanding part of their minds from the will part and imparted to the understanding the ability to accept a new will, 863, 875, 895, 927, 928, 1023, 1043, 1044, 2256, 4328, 4493. When therefore the understanding takes hold of and perceives the [truth and] good of faith and makes these its own, and yet the person's own will - that is, his will to do evil - reigns and rules, truth comes to be joined to evil and good to falsity. This joining of truth to evil and of good to falsity is profanation and is meant by eating and drinking in an unworthy manner in the Holy Supper. From people like this the good meant by the body and the truth meant by the blood [cannot] be separated; for when these have been joined to falsity and evil as described, they cannot be separated ever at all, and as a consequence the deepest hell awaits those persons. But those who know what the truth and good of faith are and yet in their hearts have no belief in them, as is the case with the vast majority of people at the present day, are unable to profane them because the understanding does not accept them and absorb them into itself.

[4] The subject here is the casting aside of this faith, for in what follows immediately after this the subject is truths and goods in their genuine order, and immediately after that the joining of these to the rational or understanding part, 'the sons of Jacob' who in the verses immediately after this are mentioned by name being truths and goods in that order, 'Isaac' the rational or understanding part, and 'Jacob's coming with his sons to Isaac' being in the internal sense that joining to the understanding part.

Footnotes: