9528. 'Of shittim wood' means out of mercy. This is clear from the meaning of 'shittim wood' as the good of merit which is the Lord's alone, dealt with in 9472, 9486; and since the good of merit is mercy, 'shittim wood' also means mercy. For out of pure love, thus out of pure mercy, the Lord assumed the Human, and underwent the severest temptations, finally the passion on the Cross, that He might save the human race; and therefore merit and righteousness are His. From all this it is evident that the good of merit consists in mercy, mercy (misericordia) being Divine Love directed towards those trapped in misery (miseriae).

The Lord underwent the severest temptations and thereby set heaven and hell in order; and He fought out of Divine Love, to save those who receive Him in love and faith, see 1266, 1663, 1668, 1676, 1690, 1691 (end), 1737, 1787, 1789, 1812, 1813, 1820, 1921, 2083, 2159, 2574, 2649, 2776, 2795, 2813, 2816, 3318 (end), 4180, 4286, 4295, 5078.

1668. 'And in the thirteenth year they rebelled' means the onset of temptations in childhood. This is clear from the meaning of 'the thirteenth year' and from the meaning of 'rebelling' - the thirteenth year coming between the twelfth and fourteenth. What is meant by twelve has been stated already, and what is meant by fourteen is to follow. 'Thirteen' is the interval between the time when there is no temptation and the time when there is. What 'rebelling' means becomes clear when it is used in reference to the evils present with a person, or to evil spirits, when they have been held in subjection or are subservient and then start to rise up and infest.

[2] Evils, or evil spirits, are in rebellion to the extent that a person who wishes to be governed by goods and truths confirms within himself certain evils and falsities, that is, to the extent that evil desires and falsities introduce themselves into his goods and truths. It is in evil desires and falsities that the life of evil spirits consists, but in goods and truths that the life of angels consists; and from this, infestation and conflict arise. This is so with all who have conscience, and was all the more so with the Lord when a boy, who had perception. With those who have conscience a dull pain arises, but with those who have perception intense pain; and the more interior the perception, the more intense is that pain. From this it becomes clear what the temptation of the Lord, who had interior and inmost perception, was like in comparison with men's.