In general, mothers in the Bible represent the Lord's church on earth. In some cases "mother" more specifically refers to the truth of the church, the true teachings the church has about the Lord and about life. This makes sense if you think about it. Mothers are the vehicles through which new people are created; the church (in a broad sense) is the vehicle through which new ideas about the Lord and new good actions are created. And just as a mother is filled with love -- for her children and husband -- so also is the church filled with love, both for its ideas and uses and also for the Lord.

67. Now I may offer some examples to make clear how spiritual angels draw their meaning, and heavenly angels their meaning, from the earthly meaning that the Word presents to us. We may take five of the Ten Commandments as examples.

The commandment “Honor your father and your mother” [Exodus 20:12; Deuteronomy 5:16]. We understand “father and mother” to mean our earthly fathers and mothers and any individuals who act as fathers and mothers for us. We understand honoring them to mean admiring them and being obedient to them. A spiritual angel, though, understands “father” to mean the Lord and “mother” to mean the church; and they understand honoring to mean loving. But a heavenly angel understands “father” to mean the Lord’s divine love and “mother” the Lord’s divine wisdom, and honoring to mean doing what is good because of him.

[2] The commandment “You are not to steal” [Exodus 20:15; Deuteronomy 5:19]. We understand stealing to mean theft, cheating, or depriving others of their assets by any means. A spiritual angel understands stealing to mean using false and evil devices to deprive people of the truths of their faith and their good, caring actions. A heavenly angel, though, understands stealing to mean giving ourselves credit for what belongs to the Lord and claiming his righteousness and worth as our own.

[3] The commandment “You are not to commit adultery” [Exodus 20:14; Deuteronomy 5:18]. We understand committing adultery to mean the act of adultery, as well as promiscuity, indecent behavior, filthy language, and impure thoughts. A spiritual angel understands adultery to mean perverting what is good in the Word and falsifying its truths. A heavenly angel, though, understands adultery to mean denying the divine nature of the Lord and profaning the Word.

[4] The commandment “You are not to kill” [Exodus 20:13; Deuteronomy 5:17]. We understand killing to mean harboring hatred as well [Matthew 5:22] and seeking revenge even as far as killing. A spiritual angel understands killing to mean playing the role of a devil and killing someone’s soul [Matthew 10:28; Luke 12:5]. A heavenly angel, though, understands killing to mean hating the Lord and hating anything that belongs to the Lord.

[5] The commandment “You are not to bear false witness” [Exodus 20:16; Deuteronomy 5:20]. We understand bearing false witness to mean lying and slandering people as well. A spiritual angel understands bearing false witness to mean saying and persuading others to believe that something false is true and that something evil is good, and the reverse. A heavenly angel, though, understands bearing false witness to mean blasphemy against the Lord and the Word.

[6] This enables us to see how spiritual and heavenly meanings are unfolded and drawn from the earthly meaning of the Word that contains them; and strange as it may seem, angels draw these meanings out without knowing what we are thinking. Nevertheless, angels’ thinking and our thinking become one because of correspondences, just as a goal, its means, and its results become one. Functionally, the goals are in the heavenly kingdom, the means in the spiritual kingdom, and the results in the earthly kingdom. This kind of union by correspondence comes from creation, and this is how we now associate with angels through the Word.