4347. 'And bowed to the ground seven times' means the submission of all things. This is clear from the meaning of 'bowing to the ground' as the feeling of humility, dealt with in 2153, and so as submission. The highest degree of submission is meant by 'seven times' and the submission of all things by the fact that Jacob bowed down; for 'Jacob' represents the universal existence of all things, as stated immediately above in 4346.

[2] As regards the expression of humility and submission, few know why these are necessary in the presence of the Divine when a person is engaged in worship. Nor consequently do they know what is accomplished by these actions. Those who have no knowledge of interior things cannot do other than believe that, like any human being bent on glory, the Divine desires people's expression of humility and their submission to Him, and that therefore the Divine desires glory from them and is affected by the glory which people ascribe to Him. But the truth of the matter is altogether different from this. The Divine is not moved by any desire for glory. Indeed what glory does the Divine have which comes from man? He desires humility and submission not for His own sake but for man's. For when humility is present in a person he turns away from the evil and falsity present in him, 2327, 2423, 3994, and in so doing removes them. Once these have been removed the Divine is able to flow in with good and truth. Anyone can recognize this within himself. One who is haughty is ruled by self-love and not only sets himself up above others but also does not care a thing about what is Divine; as a consequence he turns back the influx of good and therefore prevents it from being joined to truths. This is the real reason why a person should express humility in the presence of the Divine.

[3] From this it is evident that good cannot be joined to truths, and so a person cannot be regenerated, unless he humbles himself and is submissive. Humility and submission are attributed to truths because truths flow in by way of the external man whereas good does so by way of the internal. The things which flow in by way of the external man hold within them misconceptions and consequently falsities together with affections for them. Not so the things which flow in by way of the internal man since it is the Divine which flows in by way of this internal man and goes to meet truths so that they may be joined together. From this one may now see the implications of 'the submission of all things', which is the meaning of 'Jacob bowed to the ground seven times until he came right up to his brother'.

2327. 'And bowed down with his face towards the ground' means humiliation. This becomes clear without explanation. The reason why in the past, especially in the representative Churches, people would bow so far down that their faces touched the ground, was that 'the face' meant man's interiors, 358, 1999. And they did so down 'to the ground' because 'the dust of the ground' meant that which is profane and condemned, 278. In doing this they represented the fact that of themselves they were profane and condemned. They therefore prostrated themselves face downwards on the ground, indeed they wallowed in dust and ashes, and also cast dust or ashes over their heads, as becomes clear from Lamentations 2:10; Ezekiel 27:30; Micah 1:10; Joshua 7:6; Revelation 18:19; and elsewhere.

[2] By these actions they represented a state of true humility, which can in no way exist unless people acknowledge that of themselves they are profane and condemned, and so of themselves are incapable of looking towards the Lord where everything is Divine and Holy. To the extent therefore that a person acknowledges his own condition he can possess true humility, and when engaged in worship can have real devotion. For all worship must contain humility, and if separated from it no adoration and so no worship at all is present.

[3] The reason a state of humility is vital to worship itself is that insofar as the heart is humbled self-love and all resulting evil come to an end; and insofar as these come to an end good and truth, that is, charity and faith, flow in from the Lord. For what above all else stands in the way of their being received is self-love. Indeed within self-love there lies contempt for all others in comparison with oneself; there lies hatred and revenge if one is not venerated most highly; and there lies mercilessness and cruelty within it, and thus the worst evils of all into which good and truth cannot possibly be introduced, since they are completely opposite.