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.

5097. 'And Joseph came to them in the morning" means that which was revealed and made clear to the celestial of the spiritual. This is clear from the representation of 'Joseph' as the celestial of the spiritual, dealt with in 4286, 4592, 4963, and from the meaning of 'the morning' as a state of enlightenment, dealt with in 3458, so that what was revealed and made clear is meant. The reason 'the morning' has these meanings is that all the periods of a day, like all the seasons of a year, mean the various states that arise owing to variations of the light of heaven. Variations of the light of heaven are not like the daily and annual variations of light in the world; they are variations of intelligence and love. For the light of heaven is nothing else than Divine Intelligence flowing from the Lord, which also shines before the eyes as light, while the warmth accompanying that light is the Lord's Divine Love, which is also felt as a radiated warmth. It is that light which provides a person with understanding, and that warmth which provides him with both vital heat and a will desiring what is good. In heaven morning is a state of enlightenment, of enlightenment in matters involving goodness and truth; and this state arises when there is an acknowledgement, more so when there is a perception that good is indeed good and truth is indeed truth. Perception is a revelation that takes place internally, and therefore 'the morning' means something that has been revealed. And because that which has previously been obscure is now made clear, 'the morning' as a consequence also means that which has been made clear.

[2] In addition to this, 'morning" in the highest sense means the Lord Himself, for the reason that the Lord is the sun from which all light in heaven flows; He is always a rising sun and so is always a morning one. He is rising always on everyone who receives truth that is the truth of faith and good that is the good of love; but He is setting on everyone who does not receive these. Not that the sun there ever sets, for as has been stated, it is always a rising one, but that anyone who does not receive that truth or good causes it so to speak to set on himself. This may be compared in some measure to the changes which the sun of the world undergoes so far as the inhabitants on earth are concerned. Here too the sun does not really set since it remains all the time in its own fixed position, from where it is constantly shedding light. Yet it does seem to set because the earth spins daily on its axis, and as it goes round it takes its inhabitants out of sight of the sun, see the first example given in 5084. Thus the sun does not actually go down but anyone inhabiting the earth is removed from its light. This comparison is used to illustrate a particular point; but the phenomenon referred to is in itself instructive because every detail of the natural creation is representative of the Lord's kingdom. The instruction held within that phenomenon is that a loss of the light of heaven, that is, of intelligence and wisdom, does not come about because the Lord, the Sun of intelligence and wisdom, sets on anyone. It comes about because the inhabitant of His kingdom takes himself away, that is, he allows hell to be his leader and so take him away.