In the Christmas story, the wise men bring gifts to the Lord: gold, frankincense and myrrh.

The gold is listed first, because it is the inmost - signifying good, e.g. the good that we do when we love the Lord and the neighbor.

The frankincense is next. It signifies rational truth, which is the set of true ideas that we know, not about external things like cars or cooking, but about what is really good, and what is really true.

These rational truths are built on earlier knowledges that we learn, before we have really made them our own. Those early knowledges about spiritual things - often learned in childhood - are represented by the myrrh.

In a way, these gifts are really a reciprocation. We can't actually give them to the Lord until the Lord has given them to us. We necessarily start out by learning and doing the Lord's law (myrrh). The Lord can then call up those memories to become rational truths (frankincense). Then, over time, and with effort, those truths can be transformed into good (gold). The wise men from the East had gone through this process of learning and becoming vessels that could receive truths and goods. They were able to perceive the Lord's birth, and find him, and bring gifts to him.

8233. Verses 29-31 And the children of Israel went on dry ground into the middle of the sea; and the waters were a wall for them on their right and on their left. And Jehovah saved Israel on that day from the hand of the Egyptians; and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. And Israel saw the great hand ¹ which Jehovah displayed ² among the Egyptians; and the people feared Jehovah, and they believed in Jehovah and in Moses His servant.

'And the children of Israel went on dry ground into the middle of the sea' means that those governed by the good of truth and guided by the truth of good passed through that hell in safety without suffering molestation. 'And the waters were a wall for them on their right and on their left' means that they were held back from falsities on every side. 'And Jehovah saved Israel on that day from the hand of the Egyptians' means that in this state the Lord protected those belonging to the spiritual Church from any violence on the part of falsities arising from evil. 'And Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore' means the sight of the damned dispersed this way and that. 'And Israel saw the great hand which Jehovah displayed among the Egyptians' means acknowledgement of the Lord's almighty power. 'And the people feared Jehovah' means adoration. 'And they believed' means faith and trust. 'In Jehovah and in Moses His servant' means the Lord in respect of Divine Goodness, and in respect of Divine Truth going forth from Him and ministering.

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