3129. 'And Rebekah had a brother' means the affection for good in the natural man. This is clear from the meaning of 'a brother' and of 'a sister' in the Word - 'a brother' being the affection for good, and 'a sister' the affection for truth, dealt with in 367, 2360, 2508, 2524. For in the natural man, as in the rational, all things there are interrelated like blood relatives and relatives by marriage, 2556, 2739. For that reason also the rational mind as well as the natural mind is called a house or family where parents, brothers, sisters, blood relatives, and relatives by marriage exist in order.

2359. 'No, my brothers, do not act wickedly' means that no violence should be done to these, that is to say, to the good that flows from charity, or to the Lord's Divine Human and His Holy proceeding. This is clear from the meaning of 'acting wickedly' as doing violence. All these considerations show that the subject is people inside the Church and that it is these who are meant by 'the men of Sodom', for nobody is capable of violating those things except him who possesses the Word. The utter holiness of those things becomes clear from the consideration that nobody can be admitted into the Lord's kingdom, that is, into heaven, unless the good of love and charity exists in him; and that cannot exist with anyone unless he acknowledges the Lord's Divinity and [proceeding] Holiness. It is from Him alone that this good flows in, and indeed into good itself of which He is the source. The Divine cannot flow in except into that which is Divine; nor can it be communicated to man except through the Lord's Divine Human and His Holy deriving from this. From this one can understand what is implied when it is said that the Lord is the All in all of His kingdom, and that no good at all residing with man is man's but the Lord's.