21. Verses 4-5 And God saw that the light was good; and God made a distinction between the light and the darkness. And God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night.

The light is called good, because it comes from the Lord, who is good itself. 'The darkness' is those things which were there prior to the person's new conception and birth. They were seen as light, because evil was seen as good, and falsity as truth. But in reality they are darkness and things proper to that person which are lingering on. All things that are the Lord's, being things of light, are compared to the day, and all that are man's own, being those of thick darkness, are compared to the night, as is done many times in the Word.

3669. 'And you will be an assembly of peoples' means abundance. This becomes clear without explanation. 'An assembly of peoples' in particular has reference to truths; for 'peoples' in the Word means those who are governed by truth, see 1259, 1260, 2928, 3581, whereas 'nations' means those who are governed by good, 1259, 1260, 1416, 1849. The reason why the phrase 'an assembly of peoples' is used here is that the subject is the good of truth, represented by 'Jacob'; for good that results from truth is one thing, good from which truth stems is another. Good which results from truth is what 'Jacob' represents here, and good from which truth stems is what 'Esau' represents. Good which results from truth is the inverse of good from which truth stems. Good which results from truth is the good that exists with those who are being regenerated before they have been made regenerate; but good from which truth stems exists with the same persons once they have become regenerate. For their state is an inverse one, see 3539, 3548, 3556, 3563, 3570, 3576, 3603.