2714. That 'Paran' means enlightenment coming from the Lord's Divine Human is clear from the meaning of 'Paran' as the Lord's Divine Human, as is evident from those places in the Word where this name is used, as in the prophet Habakkuk,

O Jehovah, I have heard Your fame; I was afraid. O Jehovah, revive Your work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make it known. In zeal You will remember mercy. God will come out of Teman, and the Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah. His fame has covered the heavens, and the earth has been filled with His praise. And His brightness will be as the light; He has horns going out of His hand, and there the hiding-place of His strength will be. Habakkuk 3:2-4.

This plainly refers to the Lord's Coming, which is meant by 'reviving in the midst of the years' and 'making known in the midst of the years'. His Divine Human is described by the words 'God will come out of Teman, and the Holy One from Mount Paran'. He is said to come 'out of Teman' in regard to celestial love, and 'from Mount Paran' in regard to spiritual love; and the springing of these from enlightenment and power is meant by the words 'His brightness will be as the light; He has horns going out of His hand'. 'Brightness' and 'light' mean enlightenment, 'horns' power.

[2] In Moses,

Jehovah came from Sinai, and dawned from Seir upon them; He shone from Mount Paran, and came from myriads of holiness From His right hand came a fiery law for them. He indeed loves the peoples. All His holy ones are in your hand and have been joined together at your feet; and He will receive of your words. Deuteronomy 33:2-3.

This also refers to the Lord, whose Divine Human is described by the words 'He dawned from Seir' and 'He shone from Mount Paran' - 'from Seir' being used in regard to celestial love, 'from Mount Paran' to spiritual love. Those who are spiritual are meant by 'the peoples whom He loves' and by 'those joined together at your feet', 'the foot' meaning that which is lower, and so more obscure, in the Lord's kingdom.

[3] In the same author,

Chedorlaomer and the kings with him smote the Horites in their Mount Seir as far as El-paran, which is over into the wilderness. Genesis 14:5-6.

As regards the Lord's Divine Human being meant there by 'Mount Seir' and by 'El-paran', see 1675, 1676. In the same author,

So it was, in the second year, in the second month, on the twentieth day in the month, that the cloud lifted from over the tabernacle of the testimony. And the children of Israel travelled according to their travels from the wilderness of Sinai, and the cloud settled in the wilderness of Paran. Numbers 10:11-12.

[4] The truth that all the travels of the people in the wilderness mean the state of the Church militant, and its temptations, in which a person goes under but the Lord conquers on his behalf, and the truth that consequently they mean the Lord's own actual temptations and victories, will in the Lord's Divine mercy be shown elsewhere. And because the Lord underwent temptations by reason of His Divine Human, the Lord's Divine Human is in a similar way meant here by 'the wilderness of Paran'. The same is also meant by the following in the same author,

After that the people travelled from Hazeroth, and camped in the wilderness of Paran. And Jehovah spoke to Moses and said, Send men and let them explore the land of Canaan which I am giving to the children of Israel. And Moses sent them from the wilderness of Paran as spoken by the mouth of Jehovah. And they returned to Moses and to Aaron and to all the congregation of the children of Israel, to the wilderness of Paran in Kadesh; and they brought back word to them, and showed them the fruit of the land. Numbers 12:16; 13:1-3, 26.

Their travelling from the wilderness of Paran to explore the land of Canaan means that by means of the Lord's Divine Human these people - the children of Israel, by whom were meant those who are spiritual - have access to the heavenly kingdom, meant by the land of Canaan. But their faltering also at that time means their weakness, on account of which the Lord fulfilled everything in the Law, underwent temptations and was victorious, so that those with whom faith grounded in charity resides, also those who undergo temptations in which the Lord is victorious, have salvation from His Divine Human. This also explains why, when the Lord was tempted, He was in the wilderness, Matthew 4:1; Mark 1:12-13; Luke 4:1; see above in 2708.

2088. 'Behold I will bless him, I will make him fruitful, and I will multiply him, more and more' means that they were to be furnished and endowed with goods of faith and with truths from that source, without limit. This is clear from the meaning of 'being blessed', 'being fruitful', and 'being multiplied'. 'Being blessed' means being endowed with all goods, as shown in Volume One, in 981, 1096, 1420, 1422. 'Being fruitful' means the goods of faith with which they were to be endowed, and 'being multiplied' the truths from that source, as also shown in Volume One, in 43, 55, 913, 983.

[2] Who exactly are celestial people and who spiritual would take too long to describe here. See where they have been described already, for example in 81, 597, 607, 765, 2069, 2078, and many times elsewhere. In general celestial people are those who have love to the Lord, and spiritual those who have charity towards the neighbour. For the distinction between having love to the Lord and having charity towards the neighbour, see above 2023. Celestial people are those whose affection for good stems from good, but spiritual people are those whose affection for good stems from truth. To begin with all people were celestial, because they were governed by love to the Lord, and from this they received perception by which they perceived what was good, not from truth but from the affection for good.

[3] But after this, when love to the Lord was no longer what it had been, spiritual people took their place, these being called spiritual when they were governed by love towards the neighbour, which is charity. But love towards the neighbour, or charity, was implanted by means of truth and in this way they received a conscience in accordance with which they acted, not from an affection for good but from an affection for truth. With them charity looks like the affection for good, but is in fact the affection for truth. Because it looks like the affection for good charity is still referred to as good. But that good is a good arising out of their faith. It is these who are meant by the Lord in John,

I am the door. If anyone enters by Me he will be saved, and will go in and out, and find pasture. I am the good Shepherd; and I know My own and am known by My own. And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice, and there will be one flock and one Shepherd. John 10:9, 14, 16.