3570. 'And he brought it to him, and he ate' means first of all a conjunction of good, 'and he brought him wine, and he drank' means followed by a conjunction of truth. This is clear from the meaning of 'eating' as being joined and being made one's own as regards good, dealt with just above in 3568; from the meaning of 'wine' as truth deriving from good, dealt with in 1071, 1798; and from the meaning of 'drinking' as being joined and being made one's own as regards truth, 3168. The implications of this - that the good of the rational, represented by Isaac, first of all joins good to itself, then it joins truth to itself, which it does through the natural, represented by Jacob - are as follows: While the natural dwells in that state when good occupies the external position and truth the internal one, dealt with above in 3539, 3548, 3556, 3563, many things are allowed to come in which are not good but which are nevertheless useful - such things as serve as means towards good in their own order. But the good of the rational does not join to itself and make its own anything from that source apart from that which is suited to its own good, for it receives no other kind of good. Whatever is unsuited it rejects. All else in the natural it leaves behind to serve as the means for allowing in and introducing further things suited to itself.

[2] It is the rational that exists within the internal man. What goes on there is unknown to the natural since it is above its range of discernment. Consequently anyone who leads a merely natural life cannot know anything whatever about those things that are going on with him in his internal man, that is, in his rational. The Lord re-arranges those things without a person's being at all conscious of it. Consequently he knows nothing at all about how he is regenerated; indeed he is scarcely aware of his being regenerated. If he does wish to know however let him merely pay attention to his ultimate intentions, which are rarely disclosed to anyone. If those intentions are directed towards good, that is to say, if he considers the neighbour and the Lord more than he does himself he is in a state of regeneration. But if his intentions are directed towards evil, that is to say, if he considers himself more than he does the neighbour and the Lord, let him realize that he is not in any state of regeneration.

[3] A person's ultimate aims and intentions in life determine where he is in the next life, aims which look towards what is good placing him among angels in heaven, aims which look towards what is evil placing him among devils in hell. A person's ultimate intentions are nothing else than his loves; for what a person loves he has as his end in view. And being his loves, his ultimate aims and intentions constitute his inmost life, see 1317, 1568, 1571, 1645, 1909, 3425, 3562, 3565. Aims present in a person which look towards what is good reside in his rational, and are called the rational as regards good or the good of the rational. Through those aims residing there, that is, by means of the good there, the Lord re-arranges all things that are in the natural; for the end in view is like the soul, and the natural like the body belonging to that soul. The nature of the soul determines that of the body which surrounds it, as does the nature of the rational as regards good determine that of the natural clothing it.

[4] It is well known that a person's soul begins in the mother's ovum, and is after that developed in her womb, and is there surrounded with a tiny body, which indeed is such that by means of it the soul is able to function properly in the world into which it is born. A similar situation exists when a person is born again, that is, when he is regenerated. The new soul which he acquires at that time is an end which has good in view. This end in view has its beginnings in the rational, where first of all it is so to speak in the ovum, and is after that developed so to speak in the womb. The tiny body with which that soul is surrounded is the natural, and the good there comes to be of such a nature that it acts in obedience to the soul's ends in view. The truths there are like fibres in the body, for it is from good that truths take shape, 3470. From this it is clear that a person's reformation is imaged by the formation of him in the womb. And if you are willing to believe it, it is also celestial good and spiritual truth from the Lord that are shaping him and at that time endowing him with power that enables him to receive that good and that truth gradually - and indeed in the manner and to the extent that he looks as a human being towards ends that are of heaven and not as an animal towards those that are of the world.

[5] The matter of the rational as regards good first of all joining the good, then the truth, to itself by means of the natural - meant by Jacob's bringing savoury food and bread to Isaac and his eating it, and bringing him wine and his drinking it - may also be illustrated by means of the duties the body performs for its soul. It is the soul that enables the body to desire food and it is also the soul that enables the body to savour it. Different kinds of food are introduced through the delight that goes with appetite and the delight that goes with taste, thus through external good; but not all of these pass into the life of the body. Rather, some kinds of food serve as solvents to digest food, some as neutralizers, some as openers of and others as introducers into vessels. But good types of food are selected and introduced into the bloodstream, and then become blood. And from the latter the soul joins to itself such things as are of use to it.

[6] A similar situation exists with the rational and the natural. Corresponding to the desire for food and to taste are the desire and the affection for knowing truth; and corresponding to different kinds of food are facts and cognitions, 1480. And because they so correspond a similar situation exists with them. The soul which is the good of the rational provides the desire for those things and is moved by them, so that the things which belong to knowledge and doctrine are introduced through the delight that belongs to desire, and through the good that belongs to affection. But not everything that is introduced is such that it becomes the good which nourishes life; instead some things serve as the means so to speak to digest and neutralize, some to open up and introduce. But goods which nourish life are applied by the soul, and so joined by the soul, to itself, and from these it forms truths for itself. From this it is evident how the rational re-arranges the natural so that the rational as the soul may be served by it, or what amounts to the same, so that the natural may serve the end in view, which is the soul, in developing itself so that it may be of use in the Lord's kingdom.

3425. 'The herdsmen of Gerar disputed with Isaac's herdsmen' means that those who taught did not see anything of the sort there, because things in the internal sense appear contrary to those in the literal. This is clear from the meaning, when the internal sense of the Word is the subject, of 'disputing' as refusing to recognize any such thing - by saying that they do not see it; from the meaning of 'herdsman' as people who teach, dealt with in 343; ¹ and from the meaning of 'Gerar' as faith, dealt with in 1209, 2504, 3365, 3384. Thus 'the herdsmen of the Valley of Gerar' means those who do not acknowledge any sense in the Word other than its literal sense. The reason they do not see anything else - namely any interior sense - is that things appear to be contraries; that is to say, things in the internal sense appear to be contrary to those in the literal sense. Yet though they appear to be contrary they are not in fact so but exist in perfect correspondence with one another. The reason why they appear to be contrary however is that people who see only the literal sense of the Word are themselves dwelling in a state of contrariety. Anyone whose state is this - that is, in whom the external or natural man is totally at variance with the internal or spiritual man - sees the things that belong to the internal or spiritual man as though they stood contrary to himself, when in fact he himself as to his external or natural man is in a state of contrariety. And if he were not in that state, but his external or natural man were subservient to the internal or spiritual man, they would exist in perfect correspondence with one another.

[2] For example, a person in a state of contrariety believes that to obtain eternal life he must renounce riches, and all physical and worldly pleasures, and so the delights of life; for he believes that all these things are contrary to spiritual life. But in themselves they are not contrary to that life but correspond to it; for they are means to an end, that is to say, they exist so that the internal or spiritual man may be enabled to find joy in performing the good deeds of charity, and in addition to live contentedly in a healthy body. It is ends in view which alone cause the internal man and the external man either to be contrary or to correspond to each other. They are contrary when the riches, pleasures, and delights spoken of become ends in view, for in that case spiritual and celestial things that belong to the internal man are despised and ridiculed, or even simply rejected, by a person. But they correspond when they do not become ends but means to higher ends, that is to say, to things that belong to life after death, and so to the heavenly kingdom and to the Lord Himself. In this case bodily and worldly things appear to him to be hardly anything compared with those just mentioned and when he does think about them he considers them to be merely means to ends in view.

[3] From these considerations it is evident that things that appear to be contraries are not in themselves so, but that the reason why they appear to be such is that contrariety exists within the persons themselves. Those in whom it does not exist act in similar ways, utter similar things, seek wealth in similar ways, and pursue similar pleasures to those in whom contrariety does exist, so much so that to outward appearance scarcely any distinction can be made between them. The reason for this is that solely their ends in view distinguish the former from the latter, or what amounts to the same, that which they really love distinguishes one person from another, for what people love they have as their end in view. But although to outward appearance, that is, as to their bodies, people are similar, they are nevertheless completely different inwardly, that is, as to their spirits. The spirit of one in whom correspondence exists, that is, with whom the external man corresponds to the internal man, is shining and beautiful, like heavenly love when presented in visible form. But the spirit of one in whom contrariety exists, that is, with whom the external man is contrary to the internal man - even though he looks like the other in external appearance - is dark and ugly, like self-love and love of the world, that is, like contempt for others and like hatred, when presented in a visible form.

[4] It is similar with very many things in the Word, that is to say, those in the literal sense appear as contraries to those in the internal sense. Yet they are in no way contraries but have a perfect correspondence with one another. For example, in the Word reference is made many times to Jehovah or the Lord being angry, being wroth, destroying, and casting into hell, when in fact He is never angry, let alone casts anyone into hell. The former ideas belong to the sense of the letter, but the latter to the internal sense. The latter appear to be contraries, but this is because man dwells in a state of contrariety. It is like the Lord's appearing as the Sun to angels in heaven, and therefore as spring-like warmth and as light like that of the dawn, but to those in hell like something altogether darkened and therefore as cold like that of winter and as thick darkness like that of night - as a consequence of which angels are governed by love and charity, but those in hell by hatred and enmity. Thus to those in hell He is, as the sense of the letter refers to Him, one who is angry and wrathful, who destroys and casts into hell, but to the angels He is, as the internal sense portrays Him, one who is never angry and wroth, still less one who destroys and casts into hell.

[5] When the subject in the Word therefore is things that are contrary to the Divine such appearances inevitably present themselves. Even so, it is the Divine - which the wicked turn into that which is of the devil - that is then at work. Furthermore to the extent they draw near the Divine those in hell subject themselves to torments. Something similar is true of the words of the Lord's Prayer, Do not lead us into temptation. According to the letter the meaning is that He leads into temptation, but the internal sense is that He does not lead anyone into it, as is well known, see 1875. Similarly with everything else which occurs in the literal sense of the Word.

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