1005. Verse 15. Behold I come as a thief, signifies the Lord's coming and the Last Judgment at that time. This is evident from the signification of "coming as a thief" as being, in reference to the Lord, His coming and the Last Judgment at that time, as elsewhere in the Word (as Matthew 6:19-20; 24:42-43; Obad. verse Obadiah 1:5; Joel 2:9; Hosea 7:1). This is the signification of "coming as a thief," because taking away the knowledges of good and truth, and devastating the church, as a thief takes away wealth and robs a house, is attributed to the Lord; also because the church is then in night and in darkness, that is, in falsities from evil, and the last state of the church is called "night," and the falsities of evil that then prevail are called "darkness," and a thief comes in the night when it is dark. This is why the Lord's coming and the Last Judgment are compared to a thief (See above, n. 193).

(Continuation respecting the Sixth Commandment)

[2] That adultery is hell, and consequently an abomination, anyone can perceive from the idea of the mixture of diverse seed in the womb of one woman, for in man's seed there lies hidden the inmost of his life, and thus the rudiment of a new life; and for this reason it is holy. To make this common with the inmosts and rudiments of others, as is done in adulteries, is profane. This is why adultery is hell, and why hell in general is called adultery. And as from such a mixture nothing but corruption, also from a spiritual origin, can exist, it follows that adultery is an abomination.

[3] Consequently in the brothels that are in hell, foulnesses of every kind appear; and when light out of heaven is let into them, adulteresses are seen lying with adulterers, like swine in filth itself; and what is wonderful, like swine they are in their delights when they are in the midst of filth. But these brothels are kept closed, because when they are opened a stench is exhaled that excites vomiting. It is otherwise in chaste marriages. In these the life of the husband adds itself through the seed to the life of the wife; and from this there is inmost conjunction, by which they become not two, but one flesh. And according to conjunction by means of that, conjugial love increases, and with it every good of heaven.

3128. 'And told [those of] her mother's house all about these things' means towards whatever natural good enlightenment was able to reach. This is clear from the meaning of 'mother's house' as the good of the external man, that is, natural good. For 'a house' means good, see 2233, 2234, ¹ 2559; and man's external or natural is received from the mother, but his internal from the father, 1815. In the Word the good that exists with a person is compared to 'a house', and for that reason one who is governed by good is called 'the House of God'. But internal good is called one's 'father's house', while good of an identical degree is spoken of as one's 'brethren's house', and external good, which is the same as natural good, is referred to as one's 'mother's house'. Furthermore all good and truth is born in this fashion, that is to say, by means of the influx of internal good as the father into external good as the mother.

[2] Since the subject in this verse is the origin of truth that was to be joined to good in the Rational it is therefore said that Rebekah, who represents that truth, 'ran to her mother's house', for this is where truth originates. As stated and shown above, all good flows in by an internal route, that is, by way of the soul, into man's rational, and through the rational into his factual knowledge, and even into his sensory awareness, and by means of enlightenment there causes truths to be seen. From there truths are summoned, stripped of the natural form they possess, and joined to good in the mid-way position, that is to say, in the rational, and together constitute the rational man, and at length the spiritual man. How all this is effected however is quite unknown to anyone, for at the present day scarcely any knowledge exists of what good is or of its being distinct and separate from truth. Still less does anyone know that a person is reformed by means of the influx of good into truth and by the joining together of the two. Nor is it known that the rational is distinct and separate from the natural. And since these matters which are very general are unknown, it cannot possibly be known how truth is introduced into good, and how the joining together of these two is effected - which are the things dealt with in this chapter in the internal sense. Now seeing that these arcana have been revealed and are open to view to any who are governed by good, that is, who have minds like those of angels, such arcana, no matter how obscure they may appear to others, must be explained since they are in the internal sense.

[3] Regarding that enlightenment, which comes from good by way of truth in the natural man, here called 'the mother's house', the position is that Divine Good with man flows into his rational, and through the rational into his natural, and even into his factual knowledge, that is, into the cognitions and matters of doctrine there, as has been stated. Then by fitting the truths there to itself, inflowing Divine Good shapes them for itself, and by means of them enlightens everything in the natural man. But if the life of the natural man is such that it does not receive Divine Good, but either rejects, or perverts, or stifles it, Divine Good cannot fit truths to itself and so shape them for itself. As a consequence the natural cannot be enlightened any longer, for enlightenment in the natural man is effected by good through truths; and when there is no longer any enlightenment no reformation can take place. This is the reason why in the internal sense also so much reference is made to the nature of the natural man, and so to the origin of truth, namely that it arises from the good there.

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