3927. And Rachel said, With the wrestlings of God have I wrestled with my sister, and I have prevailed. That this signifies in the supreme sense own power; in the internal sense, temptation in which there is victory; and in the external sense, resistance by the natural man, is evident from the signification of the “wrestlings of God” and of “wrestling,” as being temptations; for temptations are nothing else than wrestlings of the internal man with the external, or of the spiritual man with the natural; for each desires to rule, and when dominion is in question, combat arises, which is here called “wrestling.” That “to prevail” is to overcome, is evident without explication.

[2] That in the supreme sense these words signify own power, is because the Lord, when He was in the world and in the human there, sustained all temptations from His own power, and conquered from His own power; differently from every man, who never sustains any spiritual temptation and conquers in it from his own power; for it is the Lord who sustains and conquers within him. (See what has been stated and shown on these subjects before, namely, That the Lord sustained the most grievous temptations, beyond all others, n. 1663, 1668, 1690, 1737, 1787, 1789, 1812, 1813, 1815, 1820, 2776, 2786, 2795, 2813, 2816, 3318: That the Lord combated and conquered from His own power, n. 1616, 1692, 1813, 3381: And that the Lord alone combats in man, n. 1692.)

[3] That in the internal sense the “wrestlings of God” and “prevailing” denote the temptations in which man conquers, is evident from what has been said just above. But that in the external sense there is signified resistance by the natural man is because all temptation is nothing else; for as before said in spiritual temptations there is dispute about dominion, as to which shall have the supremacy, the internal man or the external; or what is the same, the spiritual man or the natural, for these are opposed to each other (n. 3913). For when man is in temptations, his internal or spiritual man is ruled by the Lord through angels; but his external or natural man through infernal spirits; and the combat between them is that which is perceived by the man as temptation. When a man is such in faith and life that he can be regenerated, he will conquer in temptations; but when he is such that he cannot be regenerated, he yields in temptations. That there is resistance by the natural man, is signified by its being said that she “wrestled with her sister;” for by “Leah,” who is here the “sister,” is signified the affection of the external man; but by “Rachel,” the affection of the internal man (n. 3793, 3819).

3318. And he was weary. That this signifies a state of combat, is evident from the signification of “weary,” or “weariness,” as being the state after combat; here, a state of combat, because the subject is the conjunction of good with truth in the natural man. That “weary” here signifies a state of combat, cannot appear except from the series of things in the internal sense, and especially from the consideration that good cannot be conjoined with truth in the natural man without combats, or what is the same, without temptations. That it may be known how the case herein is in respect to man, it shall be briefly told.

[2] Man is nothing but an organ, or vessel, which receives life from the Lord; for man does not live from himself (n. 290, 1954, 2021, 2536, 2706, 2886-3001). The life which inflows with man from the Lord is from His Divine love. This love, or the life thence derived, inflows and applies itself to the vessels which are in man’s rational, and to those which are in his natural. In consequence of the hereditary evil into which man is born, and of the actual evil which he acquires, these vessels are in a contrary position within him relatively to the inflowing life, yet insofar as the life which flows in can dispose the vessels to receive it, it does so dispose them. These vessels in the rational man, and in the natural, are what are called truths, but in themselves they are merely perceptions of the variations of form of these vessels, and of the changes of state according to which in divers ways these variations come forth, being effected in the most subtle substances, by methods inexpressible (n. 2487). Good itself, which has life from the Lord, or which is life, is that which flows in and disposes.

[3] When therefore these vessels, which are to be varied as to forms, are as before said in a contrary position and direction in respect to the life, it is evident that they must be reduced to a position in accordance with the life, or into compliance with it. This cannot possibly be effected so long as the man is in that state into which he is born, and to which he has reduced himself; for the vessels are not obedient, being obstinately resistant, and hardening themselves against the heavenly order according to which the life acts; for the good which moves them, and with which they comply, is of the love of self and of the world; which good, from the gross heat that is in it, causes them to be of such a quality; and therefore before they can be rendered compliant and fit to receive anything of the life of the Lord’s love, they must be softened. This softening is effected by no other means than temptations; for temptations remove all that is of the love of self and of contempt for others in comparison with self, consequently all that is of self-glory, and also of hatred and revenge on this account. When therefore the vessels have been somewhat tempered and subdued by temptations, they begin to become yielding to, and compliant with, the life of the Lord’s love, which continually flows in with man.

[4] Hence then it is that good begins to be conjoined with truths; first in the rational man, and afterwards in the natural; for as before said truths are nothing else than perceptions of the variations of form according to states that are continually being changed; and these perceptions are from the life which flows in. This is the reason why man is regenerated, that is, made new, by temptations; or what is the same, by spiritual combats; and that he is afterwards gifted with another nature; being made mild, humble, simple, and contrite in heart. From these considerations it may now be seen what use temptations promote, namely, that good from the Lord may not only flow in, but may also dispose the vessels to obedience, and thus conjoin itself with them. That truths are vessels receptive of good, may be seen above (n. 1496, 1832, 1900, 2063, 2261, 2269). Here therefore, because the subject is the conjunction of good and truth in the natural man, and the first of conjunction takes place by means of combats, which are those of temptations, it is evident that by “he was weary” is signified a state of combat.

[5] But as regards the Lord, who in the supreme sense is here treated of, He by the most grievous temptation combats reduced all things in Himself into Divine order, insomuch that there remained nothing at all of the human which He had derived from the mother (n. 1444, 1573, 2159, 2574, 2649, 3036), so that He was not made new as are other men, but altogether Divine. For the man who is made new by regeneration still retains in himself an inclination to evil, and even evil itself; but is withheld from evil by an influx of the life of the Lord’s love, and this with a force exceedingly great; whereas the Lord utterly cast out all the evil that was hereditary to Him from the mother, and made Himself Divine, even as to the vessels, that is, as to truths. This is that which in the Word is called “glorification.”