2798. That 'Abraham took the pieces of wood for the burnt offering' means the merit of righteousness is clear from what has been stated and shown above in 2784, and so without further explanation.

[2798a] 'And laid them on Isaac [his son]' means that it, that is to say, the merit of righteousness, was joined to the Divine Rational. This becomes clear from the representation of 'Isaac' as the Lord's Divine Rational, often dealt with already, and from the meaning of 'laying it on him' as allying it. The expression 'his son' is used because the Lord's Divine Human was not only conceived but was also born from Jehovah. The Lord's conception from Jehovah is very well known from the Word of the Lord, and therefore He is called 'Son of the Most High', 'Son of God', and 'Only Begotten of the Father' in Matthew 2:15; 3, 16, 17; 16:13-17; 17:5; 27:43, 54; Mark 1:11; 9:7, 9; 14:61-62; Luke 1:31-32, 35; 3:21-22; 9:35; 10:22; John 1:14, 18, 49; 3:13, 16-18; 5:20-27; 6:69; 9:34-35, 38; 10:35-36; 20:30-31, and besides these in very many other places where He calls Jehovah His Father.

[2] It is also well known that He was born of a virgin Mary, yet even so like any other. But when He was born again, that is, became Divine, this was from Jehovah who dwelt within Him and who was Himself as to the very Being (Esse) of life. The union of the Divine Essence and the Human Essence was effected mutually and reciprocally, so that He united the Divine Essence to the Human Essence, and the Human Essence to the Divine Essence, see 1921, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2018, 2025, 2083, 2508, 2523, 2618, 2628, 2632, 2728, 2729. From this it may become clear that the Lord made the Human within Himself Divine from His own power and in so doing became Righteousness. That which was allied to the Divine Rational when He underwent inmost temptation was the merit of righteousness; and it was from the Divine Rational that He fought, and it was against it that evil genii fought, until He glorified that Divine Rational also. These are the things meant in the internal sense by Abraham's laying the pieces of wood for the burnt offering on Isaac his son, and they are the things which angels perceive when these words are being read.

2018. That 'I will establish My covenant between Me and you' means union is clear from the meaning of 'a covenant' as union, dealt with already in 665, 666, 1023, 1038. This union has been dealt with above in this chapter and in other places before that, where it has been shown that Jehovah who is the speaker here was within Him, because He was one with Him from the very start of conception and birth. For He was indeed conceived from Jehovah, and therefore His Internal was Jehovah. And in 1999 this has been illustrated by the similarity that exists with man; that is to say, his soul is one with his body, or his internal one with his external, even though they are quite distinct and separate from each other. Sometimes they are so distinct that one is in conflict with the other, as normally happens in times of temptation when the internal reproaches the external and wishes to cast out the evil that is within the external; nevertheless they are joined together or are one since soul and body both belong to the same person. Take for example a person whose thought is something other than what is expressed in his looks, speech, and actions. In his case that which is more interior is at variance with that which is external; yet the two make one, for the thought is just as much part of that person as the external is to which looks, speech, and actions belong. Union exists however when the latter - looks, speech, and action - are in agreement with the thought. So much for these remarks added by way of illustration.