21. VII. THIS DIVINE WORK IS LIKEWISE CALLED REDEMPTION, WITHOUT WHICH NO MAN CAN BE SAVED, BECAUSE HE CANNOT BE REGENERATED. That the redemption accomplished by the Lord when He was in the world was a subjugation of the hells, an arrangement of the heavens in order, and by these means a preparation for a new spiritual Church, may be seen in the work, THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION (n. 115-117; and the following nos., 118-133). But inasmuch as this is new, and has lain hidden for ages, like the wreck of a ship with its precious cargo at the bottom of the sea, and nevertheless the doctrine of redemption is as it were the treasure-house of all the spiritual riches, or tenets, of the New Church, therefore, in the last section of this volume, the Mystery of Redemption shall be treated of, where the following propositions will be unfolded and elucidated:

[2] I. Deliverance from enemies is what in the Word is called Redemption.

II. Consequently, it is deliverance from evils and falsities, which, since they are from hell, are spiritual enemies; for they kill souls, as natural enemies do bodies.

[3] III. Hence it becomes evident that the first purpose of the Redemption accomplished by the Lord was the separation of the evil from the good, and the raising of the good to Himself into heaven, and the removal of the evil from Himself into hell; for thus are the good liberated from the evil. This first thing of Redemption is the Last Judgment (which has been treated of above, n. 10-13).

[4] IV. The second purpose of Redemption was the co-ordination of all things in the heavens, and the subordination of all things in hell, by which the good were still more distinctly separated and liberated from the evil; and this is the new heaven and the new hell (which has been treated of above, n. 14-17).

[5] V. The third purpose of Redemption was a revelation of truths from the new heaven, and thereby the raising up and establishment of a new Church on earth; by which means the good were further separated and liberated from the evil, and are separated and liberated for the future (this third cause has also been treated of above, n. 18-20).

[6] VI. The final purpose of Redemption was to make it possible for the Lord, by virtue of His Divine omnipotence, to regenerate man, and thus save him; for, unless man be regenerated he cannot be saved (John 3:3).

[7] VII. The regeneration of a man, inasmuch as it is a separation and deliverance from evils and falsities, is a particular redemption by the Lord, proceeding from His general Redemption.

[8] VIII. With those who are being regenerated, evils are first of all separated from goods, and this is like Judgment; afterwards, goods are collected into one, and arranged into a heavenly form, and this is like a new heaven; and, lastly, a new Church is thereby implanted and produced, the internal of which is heaven; and the external from the internal, consequently both together, with man, is what is called the Church.

[9] IX. All are redeemed, since all who reject the falsities of the former Church, and receive the truths of the new Church, are able to be regenerated; but still the regenerated are, properly, the redeemed.

[10] X. The goal of redemption, and the prize of the redeemed, is spiritual peace.

[11] XI. A redemption has also been accomplished by the Lord at this day, because the present day is His Second Coming according to prophecy; by which, having been an eye-witness thereof, I have been convinced of the truth of the foregoing arcana.

But these are only general statements, which must be unfolded in detail, and set forth in both spiritual and natural light, at the end of this volume, where the Mystery of Redemption is to be treated of.

2649. 'On the day when he was to wean Isaac' means a state of separation. This is clear from the meaning of 'day' as state, dealt with in 23, 487, 488, 493, 893, and from the meaning of 'being weaned' as being separated, dealt with in 2647. Verse 1 onwards of this chapter has dealt in the following order with the Lord's Divine Essence united to His Human Essence:

The presence of the Divine within the Human, for the sake of the two being united, verse 1.

The presence of the Human within the Divine, and thus a reciprocal union, dealt with in 2004, verse 2,

From that union the Human was made Divine, verse 3.

This was effected gradually and constantly while the Lord lived in the world, verse 4.

It started to be effected when the rational was in a state to receive, verse 5.

The nature of the state of union is described, together with the arcana of that state, verses 6-7.

Now reference follows, and is continued through to verse 12, to the separation of the human received from the mother. That separation is meant in this present verse by 'the weaning of Isaac', and in those that follow it is represented by Hagar's son being cast out of the house. And because the union of the Lord's Divine with His Human, and of the Human with the Divine, is the marriage itself of Good and Truth, and from this marriage is derived the heavenly marriage, which is the same as the Lord's kingdom, mention is therefore made of 'a great feast which Abraham made when Isaac was weaned', by which is meant the first stage of that marriage or the first union. Unless this 'feast', and also the weaning, had had some hidden meaning, it would never have been mentioned.

[2] Since the subject which follows now is the separation of the first human which the Lord had from the mother and the total casting off of it ultimately, it should be recognized that right to the end of His life when He was glorified the Lord gradually and constantly separated from Himself and cast off that which was merely human. That is to say, He cast off that which He had derived from the mother, until ultimately He was no longer her son but the Son of God not only in conception but also in birth, and so was one with the Father and was Jehovah himself. The truth that He separated from Himself and cast off the whole of the human received from the mother, insomuch that He was her son no longer, is plainly evident from the Lord's own words in John,

When the wine failed, the mother of Jesus said to Him, They have no wine. Jesus said to her, O woman, What have you to do with Me? John 2:3-4.

In Matthew,

Someone said, Behold, Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside asking to speak to You. But Jesus answering said to the one who had told Him, Who is My mother, and who are My brothers? And stretching out His hand over His disciples He said, Behold My mother and My brothers; for whoever does the will of My Father who is in heaven is My brother, and sister, and mother. Matthew 12:47-50; Mark 3:32-35; Luke 11:27-28.

In Luke,

A certain woman lifting up her voice out of the crowd ¹ said to Him, Blessed is the womb that bore You, and the breasts that You sucked. But Jesus said, Blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it. Luke 11:27-28.

[3] Here, when the woman referred to His mother, the Lord spoke of those mentioned in the preceding quotation. That is to say, He spoke of 'whoever does the will of My Father is My brother, sister, and mother', which amounts to the same as saying, 'Blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it'. In John,

Jesus seeing his mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing by, said to His mother, O woman, behold your son! Then He said to the disciple, Behold your mother! From that hour therefore the disciple took her to his own home. John 19:26-27.

From these words it is evident that the Lord spoke to her according to what she was thinking when she saw Him on the Cross - though He does not call her mother but woman - and that He gave the name mother instead to those meant by the disciple; hence His words to the disciple, Behold your mother! The matter is plainer still from the Lord's own words in Matthew,

Jesus questioned the Pharisees saying, What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is He? They said to Him, David's. He said to them, How is it then that David in the spirit calls Him Lord, saying, The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at My right hand until I make Your enemies Your footstool. If therefore David calls Him Lord, how is He his son? And no one was able to answer Him a word. Matthew 22:41-end; Mark 12:35-37; Luke 20:42-44.

Accordingly He was no longer David's son as to the flesh.

[4] As regards the separation and casting off of the human from the mother, it must be added that they have no conception of this who entertain merely bodily ideas about the Lord's Human and think of it as they do of the human of any other. To such people these matters are as a consequence stumbling-blocks. They do not know that as is the life so is the person, and that the Divine Being (Esse) of life, or Jehovah, was the Lord's from conception and that a similar Being (Esse) of life manifested itself within His Human through union.

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