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.

3267. 'By their names, according to their births' means interior characteristics according to derivatives of faith. This is clear from the meaning of 'name' as the essential nature, or of 'names' as the essential characteristics, dealt with immediately above in 3266, here interior characteristics since the words used are 'these are the names of the sons of Ishmael, by their names'. In the first case 'the names' means the general characteristics, but here in the second case specific characteristics residing within those general ones are meant, that is, those which in relation to the general are interior. The word 'names' also means interior characteristics because these characteristics go according to derivatives of faith, meant by 'according to their births' - 'births' meaning derivatives of faith, and so of the Church, see 1145, 1255, 1330, 3263.

[2] The situation with the Lord's spiritual Church is that it is spread throughout the whole world, and wherever it exists varies so far as matters of belief or truths of faith are concerned. Those variations are the derivatives meant by 'births', which occur either simultaneously or consecutively. The same applies to the Lord's spiritual kingdom in the heavens - that is to say, in matters of faith variety is so great that not one community, nor even one member of a community, is in complete agreement with any other in the things which constitute the truths of faith, 3241. But for all that, the Lord's spiritual kingdom in the heavens is one, the reason being that with everyone charity is the chief thing, for charity makes the spiritual Church, not faith, unless you say that faith is charity.

[3] Anyone who has charity loves the neighbour, and when the latter differs from him in matters of belief he thinks nothing of it provided he leads a life that is good and true. Neither also does he condemn upright gentiles, in spite of the fact that they have no knowledge of the Lord and do not know any truth of faith. For the person who has charity, that is, who leads a good life, receives such truths from the Lord as agree with his good, and gentiles receive such things as can be turned in the next life into the truths of faith, 2599-2603. But the person who has no charity, that is, who does not lead a good life, cannot receive any truth. He can indeed know the truth, but it is not implanted in his life. He is indeed able to speak that truth with his lips, but not have it in his heart, for truth cannot be joined to evil. For this reason also, although they are in the Church because they were born in it, those who know truths which they call matters of belief and yet do not lead a charitable or good life nevertheless do not belong to the Church. For they have nothing of the Church within them, that is, no good at all to which truth may be joined.