1672. And the kings that were with him. That this signifies the apparent truth which is of that good, is evident from the signification of “kings” in the Word. “Kings,” “kingdoms,” and “peoples,” in the historical and the prophetical parts of the Word, signify truths and the things which are of truths, as may be abundantly confirmed. In the Word an accurate distinction is made between a “people” and a “nation;” by a “people” are signified truths, and by a “nation” goods, as before shown (n. 1259, 1260). “Kings” are predicated of peoples, but not so much of nations. Before the sons of Israel sought for kings, they were a nation, and represented good, or the celestial; but after they desired a king, and received one, they became a people, and did not represent good or the celestial, but truth or the spiritual; which was the reason why this was imputed to them as a fault (see 1 Samuel 8:7-22, concerning which subject, of the Lord’s Divine mercy elsewhere). As Chedorlaomer is named here, and it is added, “the kings that were with him,” both good and truth are signified; by “Chedorlaomer,” good, and by “the kings,” truth. But what was the quality of the good and truth at the beginning of the Lord’s temptations has already been stated.

302. The glorification of the Lord's Human, and the subjugation of the hells, were effected by temptations.

The Lord more than all endured the most grievous temptations (n. 1663, 1668, 1787, 2776, 2786, 2795, 2816, 4295, 9528). The Lord fought from His Divine love toward the human race (n. 1690-1691, 1812-1813, 1820). The Lord's love was the salvation of the human race (n. 1820). The hells fought against the Lord's love (n. 1820). The Lord alone, from His own proper power, fought against the hells, and overcame them (n. 1692, 1813, 2816, 4295, 8273, 9937). Thence the Lord alone became justice and merit (n. 1813, 2025-2027, 9715, 9809, 10019). The last temptation of the Lord was in Gethsemane and on the cross, at which time He gained a full victory, by which He subjugated the hells, and at the same time glorified His Human (n. 2776, 2803, 2813-2814, 10655, 10659, 10828). The Lord could not be tempted as to the Divine itself (n. 2795, 2803, 2813-2814). Therefore He assumed an infirm human from the mother, into which He admitted temptations (n. 1414, 1444, 1573, 5041, 5157, 7193, 9315). By means of temptations and victories He expelled all that was hereditary from the mother, and put off the human which He had from her, till at length He was no longer her son (n. 2159, 2574, 2649, 3036, 10830). Jehovah, who was in Him, appeared in temptations as if absent, and this so far as He was in the human from the mother (n. 1815). This state was the Lord's state of humiliation (n. 1785, 1999, 2159, 6866). The Lord by temptations and victories arranged all things in the heavens into order (n. 4287, 4295, 9528, 9937). By the same means He also united His Human with His Divine, that is, He glorified His Human (n. 1725, 1729, 1733, 1737, 3318, 3381, 3382, 4286-4287, 4295, 9528, 9937).

1692. What temptations, or the conflicts that constitute temptations, accomplish, scarcely anyone is able to know. They are the means by which evils and falsities are broken up and dispersed. They are also the means by which an abhorrence of these is produced, and a conscience is not only given but also strengthened, and man is accordingly regenerated. This is the reason why those who are being regenerated are led into conflicts and undergo temptations and why those who do not experience them during their earthly life do so in the next life, provided they are such as can be regenerated. And it is for these reasons also that the Lord's Church is called 'militant'. The Lord alone however underwent from His own strength or power the most cruel conflicts that constitute temptations, for He was beset by all the hells and constantly overcame them.

[2] It is also the Lord alone who fights in the temptation-conflicts of those who do undergo these. Man by his own power can accomplish nothing in the slightest against evil or hellish spirits, for they are so closely linked to the hells that if one were vanquished another would rush to take his place, and so on for ever. They are like the sea pressing against every part of a dike. If the dike were to develop a split or crack the sea would never cease to pour through and flood the land until nothing was left standing. It would be like this with man if the Lord alone did not bear up against the conflicts experienced by man in temptations.