3796. 'And so it was, when Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban his mother's brother' means an acknowledgement of the affection for that truth as to its origin. This is clear from the meaning of 'seeing' here as acknowledging, as is evident from the train of thought, and from the representation of 'Rachel' as the affection for interior truth, dealt with above in 3793. The expression 'the daughter of Laban his mother's brother' embodies the origin of that affection; that is to say, it came from a parallel good which had been joined in a brotherly relationship to rational truth represented by 'Rebekah, Jacob's mother'.

[2] As regards affections for truth and good, genuine affections for truth and good which are perceived by a person all have a Divine origin since they come from the Lord. But as they come down they branch off into various and different streams where they form new origins for themselves. For as they flow into affections which are not genuine but spurious, and into affections for evil and falsity present with a person, so they become varied. Affections which often have a similar outward appearance to genuine ones present themselves, but these are nevertheless not genuine inwardly. The only way to establish their true identity is to discover the end they have in view. If that end is selfish or worldly those affections are not genuine. But if the end is the good of the neighbour, the good of the community, the good of the country, and more still if it is the good of the Church and the good of the Lord's kingdom, they are genuine, for in that case the Lord is their end, since the Lord is within those varieties of good.

[3] But it is the mark of someone wise to be aware of which ends are present in himself. Sometimes it does seem as though his ends are selfish when in fact they are not, for the human being is such that in everything he considers how it affects himself. This he does regularly and habitually. But if anyone wishes to know the ends he himself has in view he has merely to take note of his feeling of delight - whether it is on account of his receiving praise and glory, or whether it is on account of his performing some unselfish service. If it is the latter delight which he feels, genuine affection is present in him. He ought also to take note of the varying states he passes through, for those states cause his feelings to vary considerably. A person is able to find these things out in himself, but not in others, for the ends in view to anyone's affection are known to the Lord alone. This is why the Lord said,

Do not judge, lest you are judged; do not condemn, lest you are condemned. Luke 6:37.

For a thousand people may apparently share the same affection for truth and goodness, and yet the affection in each of them may have a different origin, that is, each may have a different end in view.

[4] The reason the end makes the affection what it is - that is to say, genuine, spurious, or false - is that the end is the person's actual life. Indeed a person has as his end in view that which constitutes his life, or what amounts to the same, his love. When the good of the neighbour, the common good, the good of the Church and of the Lord's kingdom is the end in view, a person's soul is in the Lord's kingdom and so abides with the Lord. For the Lord's kingdom is nothing else than a kingdom of ends and purposes directed towards the good of the human race, 3645. Angels themselves present with a person are nowhere else than within his ends in view. To the extent that someone's end in view is such as that which exists in the Lord's kingdom, angels take delight in him and join themselves to him as a brother. But to the extent a person's end is himself, angels depart and evil spirits from hell draw near, for in hell no other end in view reigns. From these considerations one may see how important it is to find out and to know where one's affections originate; these can be known from nothing else than one's end in view.

63. Further particulars respecting love and its essence and quality, may be known from what has been said and shown above, concerning good and truth; also from what has been said and quoted concerning the will and the understanding; and also from what has been said and quoted concerning the internal and the external man; because all things which are of the love refer themselves either to goods or to evils; and so also all things which are of the will: and since the two loves of heaven open and form the internal spiritual man; but the two loves of hell close and destroy it. Hence applications may be made and conclusions drawn respecting the quality of love in general and particular.

7506. 'And Jehovah will make a distinction between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of the Egyptians' means the difference between the forms of the truth and good of faith of those who belong to the spiritual Church and forms of the truth and good of faith [acquired from the Church] which reside with those engaged in molestation. This is clear from the meaning of 'making a distinction' as a difference; from the meaning of 'the livestock' as forms of the truth and good of faith, as above in 7502; from the representation of 'the children of Israel' as those who belong to the spiritual Church, also dealt with above, in 7500; and from the meaning of 'the livestock of the Egyptians' as forms of good and truth belonging to the Church which reside with those who engage in molestation. Regarding 'the Egyptians', that they are those who belonged to the Church and therefore had a knowledge of the truth and good of faith, but led an evil life, and are those who engage in molestation in the next life, see 7097, 7127, 7317, 7501.

[2] Let the difference between forms of the truth and good of faith with those belonging to the Church who are saved and forms of the truth and good of faith which reside with those belonging to the Church who are damned be stated briefly. Forms of the truth and good of faith which reside with those who belong to the Church and are saved are rooted in the good of charity; and since the affection characteristic of charity constitutes the truly spiritual level of things, those forms of truth and good are spiritual, flowing in from the Lord by way of heaven. For those people's interiors, which are receptive, are open to heaven. But forms of truth and good possessed by those who belong to the Church and are damned are not rooted in the good of charity, and so they are not spiritual. They do, it is true, flow in by way of heaven, but they are given a very cold and dark reception, very cold because the good of charity is lacking, and very dark because the light in which they receive them resembles the light of winter, a light which, compared with the light of heaven, is as thick darkness. These people's interiors are not open to heaven but to the world; they turn the truth and good that flow in from heaven in a worldly direction. As a consequence, too, the ideas they have about the good and truth of faith are wholly natural, indeed material ones, which when represented in the spiritual world are ugly and bear no kind of resemblance to a human being. But the ideas about the truth and good of faith of those who belong to the Church and are saved are spiritual, and although they are embodied in material images of worldly things, yet they are separate from those images, for they can be raised above them. When the ideas of these people are represented in the spiritual world they are beautiful, and take on a resemblance to a human being. Such is the difference, no matter how much alike they seem to be to outward appearances, that is, when people speak and preach about them.

[3] What causes such a difference is the kind of life a person leads. For when good reigns in a person's life, that is, good which springs from charity, it has an effect on his understanding, which is the receptacle of truth. It creates beautiful ideas about forms of the good and truth of faith. But when evil reigns in a person's life, that is, the opposite of charity, that too has an effect on his understanding. It produces ugly ideas about forms of the good and truth of faith; and such ideas find no acceptance in heaven.