3162. Verses 52-54 And so it was, when Abraham's servant heard their words, that he bowed down to the earth to Jehovah. And the servant brought out vessels of silver and vessels of gold, and garments, and gave them to Rebekah; and he gave precious things to her brother and to her mother. And they ate and drank, he and the men who were with him, and stayed the night; and they rose up in the morning, and he said, Send me to my master.

'So it was, when Abraham's servant heard their words, that he bowed down to the earth to Jehovah' means the perception of joy in the natural man. 'And the servant brought out vessels of silver and vessels of gold, and garments' means truth and good, and the adornment of these. 'And gave them to Rebekah' means which passed at that point to the affection for truth. 'And he gave precious things to her brother' means spiritual things passing from there to natural good. 'And to her mother' means to natural truth also. 'And they ate and drank' means making one's own the good and truth introduced in this way. 'He and the men who were with him' means the things which were in the natural man. 'And they stayed the night' means its peace. 'And they rose up in the morning' means a degree of raising up. 'And he said, Send me to my master' means the affection desiring the joining together.

1873. Spirits once spoke about the internal sense of the Word, and to present the nature of that sense intelligibly, they illustrated it by means of the example, What are the fruits of faith? They said that in the external sense, or sense of the letter, good works are meant by the fruits of faith, but that those good works are soulless unless they spring from charity, and this being so, that in the proximate interior sense by the fruits of faith is meant charity. But because charity, or love towards the neighbour, ought to spring from love to the Lord, the latter is meant in the internal sense by the fruit of faith. And because all love derives from the Lord, it is the Lord Himself. Thus a good work holds charity within itself, charity holds love to the Lord within it, and love to the Lord holds the Lord Himself within it.