4275. 'Until dawn came up' means before natural good, meant by 'Jacob', was joined to the celestial-spiritual, that is, to the Divine good of truth. This is clear from the meaning of 'the dawn' in the highest sense as the Lord, in the representative sense as His kingdom, and in the universal sense as the celestial element of love, dealt with in 2405, and in this case the celestial-spiritual. For when the dawn came up Jacob received the name Israel, by which the celestial-spiritual man is meant. Before the coming up of the dawn therefore means before natural good, now meant by 'Jacob', was joined to celestial-spiritual good. What celestial-spiritual is will be stated below at verse 28, where Israel is the subject.

761. It has been stated already that spiritual temptation when it takes place in someone is a conflict between the evil spirits and the angels residing with that person, and that he ordinarily feels that conflict in his conscience. As regards such conflict it should be recognized in addition that the angels are protecting man constantly and are warding off the evils that evil spirits direct against him. They protect even the falsities and the evils with a person, for they are fully aware of where the person's falsities and evils come from - from evil spirits and genii. Man in no sense produces any falsity and evil from himself. Instead it is the evil spirits residing with him who produce them, and as they do so they also convince him that these originate in himself. Such is the nature of their wickedness. And what is more, the moment they instill this into him and convince him, they also accuse and condemn him. This I can confirm from a multitude of experiences. Anyone who has no faith in the Lord is incapable of being enlightened in the matter; he inevitably believes that an evil is from himself. Consequently he makes the evil his own and becomes like those evil spirits residing with him. Such is the situation with man. And as the angels are aware of it they protect even a person's falsities and evils while he is undergoing the temptations that are part of regeneration. Otherwise he would go under, for with man there is nothing but evil and derivative falsity, so that he is just a heap and conglomeration of evils and derivative falsities.