4921. 'And the midwife took' means the natural. This is clear from the meaning of 'the midwife' as the natural, dealt with in 4588. The implications of this will be evident from the following considerations. In the spiritual world 'midwife' means something different from what the word means in the natural world, as may be recognized from the consideration that in the spiritual world there is no such thing as childbirth or consequently midwifery. From this it is evident that when a person reads the words used here, the angels present with him do not perceive a midwife but instead something completely different; indeed they perceive something spiritual. Consequently because angels concentrate their ideas on things to do with a spiritual childbirth, their perception of 'the midwife' is therefore that which assists and receives this offspring - that which assists and receives it being the natural, see what has been shown in 4588.

4214. 'And in the morning Laban rose up early' means the enlightenment of that good by the Lord's Divine Natural. This is clear from the meaning of 'in the morning rising up early' as enlightenment, dealt with in 3458, 3723, and from the representation of 'Laban' as good such as exists with gentiles, dealt with in 4189. It is evident from the train of thought that the enlightenment of this good by the Lord's Divine Natural is what is meant here. As regards enlightenment, all enlightenment is received from the Lord; it comes by way of the good present in a person, the exact nature of the enlightenment depending on the nature of that good there.

[2] Most people believe that the enlightened consist of those who are able to reason about what is good and true, or about what is evil and false, and that the measure of their enlightenment increases in direct proportion to their growing ability to speak about those things with greater precision and accuracy, and at the same time to back up what they say with many facts, and also to make their assertions ring true by the use of comparisons drawn mainly from sensory evidence and by the use of other convincing ways of presentation. These reasoners however, in spite of all their mental and perceptive ability, are incapable of being enlightened at all. Two different kinds of mental and perceptive ability exist, the first of which comes from the light of heaven, the second from an illusory light. Both kinds look the same in outward form but are entirely different in internal form. That which comes from the light of heaven exists within good, that is, it exists with people who are governed by good. By virtue of that good they are able to see what is true, and to know - clear as daylight - whether something is right or not. But the kind which comes from the illusory light exists within evil, that is, with people who are governed by evil. The reason why they are able to reason about the things mentioned is that they do have a capacity to know them but no desire to practice them, a situation in which, as anyone can see, no enlightenment is present.

[3] With regard to illusory light and its existence in the next life, the following may be said: People who have dwelt in such light in the world dwell in a similar light in the next life. There also they reason about what is good and true, and about what is evil and false, doing so indeed far more perfectly and completely than during their lifetime since their thoughts are not held back and inhibited in that life by the cares which belong to the body and the world, nor are they so confined within them as they had been when in the body and the world. But it is immediately apparent, not to them but to good spirits and to angels, that their reasonings are the product of illusory light and that the light of heaven flowing in with them is instantly converted into that inferior kind of light. That which begins with them as the light of heaven is either stifled, as when sunlight falls on something opaque and turns black, or is cast back, as happens with people under the influence of false assumptions, or else is perverted, as when sunlight strikes objects that are offensive and foul and produces offensive colours as well as offensive odours. It is similar with people who dwell in illusory light and believe that they are more enlightened than everybody else because of their ability to reason intelligently and wisely, even though they lead evil lives.

[4] Who these spirits are and what they are really like is evident from every syllable of what they say, so long as they are simulating what is good with the intent to deceive. Such spirits include those who deny the Lord or hold Him in contempt, and among themselves mock those who do confess Him. Also included are those who delight in adultery and deride people who believe that marriages are holy and ought never to be dishonoured. Among such spirits too are those who believe that the commands and teachings of the Church are intended for the common people, who by means of them may be kept in bonds; but among themselves those spirits set no value at all on those commands and teachings. Likewise included are those who attribute all things to nature and suppose people to be simpletons and weak in judgement who claim that all things come from the Divine. Spirits who ascribe every single thing to their own prudence, and who have convinced themselves of the idea and say that a Supreme Being exists who has a kind of general or overall control of things but no particular or specific control of them, are included too. And the same applies to other cases.

[5] People like these dwell in illusory light in the next life also, where among those like themselves they reason with precision. But when they approach any heavenly community that light goes out and turns into darkness. As a consequence their thought is so beclouded that they are not in fact able to think at all. For the light of heaven there has an adverse effect on them, which with them, as has been stated, is either stifled or cast back or perverted. As a result they reel back from there and cast themselves down into hell, where that kind of light shines. These considerations show what true enlightenment is, namely that which is a product of good originating in the Lord, and what false enlightenment is, namely that which is a product of evil originating in hell.