2528. 'God said to him in the dream' means a perception that was less obscure. This is clear from what has been stated and explained above in 2514. The reason why in this chapter the name 'God' is used but not 'Jehovah', except in the last verse, is that spiritual matters, that is, matters of doctrine concerning faith, are the subject. For when spiritual matters are referred to, the name 'God' is used, but when celestial matters, that is, love and charity, are dealt with, the name Jehovah' is used, see 709, 732, 2001.

2514. 'In a dream in the night' means a perception that was obscure. This becomes clear from the meaning of 'a dream' and at the same time of 'the night'. When perception is the subject, 'a dream' means something obscure in contrast to wakefulness, and still more when the expression 'a dream in the night' is used. The reason the Lord's initial perception is called obscure is that it existed within the human which He was to cast off and from which He was to dispel the shadows. Though it originated in the Divine the Lord's ability to perceive nevertheless existed within the human, the nature of which is such that it does not immediately receive light itself but gradually as the shadows there are dispelled. The bringing of Himself into something less obscure as regards the doctrine of faith is what is meant in verse 6 by a second reference - but without mention of 'the night'- to God's coming to Abimelech 'in the dream'. And His entry after this into clear perception is what is meant in verse 8 by 'in the morning Abimelech rose up early.'