The Writings offer a tremendous amount of material on angels. The book "Heaven and Hell" offers detailed discussions as it describes heaven; "Conjugial Love" has much to say about marriage and romantic love in heaven; "Divine Love and Wisdom" offers insight into how angels in their nature reflect the nature of the Lord. So we'll offer some basics here and recommend those books to those who want more detail.

(Izinkomba: Divine Love and Wisdom 231; Divine Providence 60-67)

Basically, the Writings say that if people in this life open themselves to the Lord, follow the Lord's teachings and let the Lord change their selfish desires into generous loves, they will go to heaven as angels after they die. If they don't, and instead embrace their selfishness, they will go to hell as evil spirits. The Writings also say that this is the only source of angels and evil spirits - they were all once people. There is no separately created race of angels, no fallen angel Lucifer who is now the Devil; that belief is based solely on a few lines of misinterpreted scripture.

This makes sense if you look at it logically. If the Lord could create beings that would live in love and harmony with him with no possibility of evil, why would He have bothered with us? Why not just make more of them? The fact is, such beings would not have any choice in their actions, making them no better than animals. And ultimately, if they were purely good then they would really just be extensions of the Lord, so in loving them He would be loving Himself. The reverse is true of the idea of Satan or "the" Devil. The Lord creates us from love so that he can love us, bring us to heaven and make us happy. For Satan to exist, the Lord would have had to create him, and it would be contrary to His essence to create something that was not intended for heaven, for joy, and for union with the Lord.

So angels were once people, who got to be angels by embracing the idea of being good and followed the Lord's teachings as best they could. The Writings make it clear these people can come from anywhere, from any religious background. Some churches may have doctrine that is closer to the truth than others, but the point of any religion is for people to desire to be good and try to be good using the tools they have.

When those people die, they go first to a place called the "world of spirits." There everyone who has recently died can learn about the Lord and spiritual life and prepare for heaven. There also, people's inner affections start showing on the surface; those who are ultimately evil start losing the ability to cover it up, and the love starts shining through for those who are ultimately good. As this continues and as people learn more, they naturally start congregating with others who have similar loves. This way evil people eventually take themselves to hell, where they can be with others who share their evil. Good people, on the other hand, can be prepared for heaven.

Two important things have to happen for us to truly enter fully into heaven. First, the Lord will push aside our remaining evil desires, so they cannot hurt us or tempt us anymore; angels are in a marvelous state of peace, with no active evil to trouble them. Second, we will each be led by the Lord to the perfect married partner, the one whose soul matches ours, the one we can love blissfully to eternity. All angels are married, because the marriage of a man and a woman represents the marriage of love and wisdom in the Lord, and also the marriage of the desire for good and understanding of truth in each of us. Because of this, we can only fully receive and return the Lord's love as married partners, and heaven is suffused with the sphere of marriage and the love of marriage.

The angelic couples will find their way to communities of other angels whose loves match their own, people with whom they can share the deepest friendships imaginable. They will have houses which reflect the character of their loves, and will be given work to do that springs from their loves and fills them with joy. Beyond that, their lives are much as life might be in this world, though free of sickness and aging and boredom and conflict. They have bodies that are human in form - no wings! - but a beauty in face and form that reflects the good loves they have inside. They eat and drink and laugh and sleep and have parties and games; all filled with the delight of mutual love.

The Writings tell us the work angels do is varied far beyond what we can imagine, though they only describe a few aspects. Among other things, angels care for people in this life, passing on to them true ideas and desires for good from the Lord. They also teach those in the World of Spirits, greet those who have just died, raise those who died as children, keep order in hell and do many other things.

We would finally note that there are three degrees of angelic life, based on the loves people embraced in this life. The first, lowest heaven, called the "natural heaven," is filled by those who are in the love of service. Angels there love to do what's right because they know it is right. The second, middle heaven, called the spiritual heaven, is filled by those who are in the love of the neighbor. Angels there love to engage their minds with spiritual questions to gain an ever-deeper understanding of how to be loving to one another. The third, highest heaven, known as celestial, is filled with those who are in love of the Lord Himself. From that love they have such innocence that they look like children, and they instantly perceive what is true, in all its variety, from the light of that love.

(Izinkomba: Apocalypse Revealed 818; Arcana Coelestia 228-233, 454, 1802, 2551, 2572 [3-4], 5470, 6872 [2-3], 8747, 9503 [1-3], 9814 [2], 10604 [2-4]; Conjugial Love 44 [6-10], 52; Divine Love and Wisdom 19, 63, 71, 115, 116, 202, Divine Love and Wisdom 321, 322, 334; Heaven and Hell 75, 133, 266, 267, 304, 311, 415)

5469. 'Assuredly we are guilty concerning our brother' means that they were blameworthy because they had alienated the internal by their non-acceptance of good. This is clear from the meaning of 'being guilty' as being blameworthy and subject to the imputation [of sin] because good and truth have been cast aside, dealt with in 3400; and from the representation of Joseph, 'their brother' concerning whom they were guilty, as the internal which they had cast aside or alienated. For Joseph and Benjamin represent the internal aspect of the Church, while the remaining ten sons of Jacob represent its external aspect - 'Rachel', from whom Joseph and Benjamin were born, being the affection for interior truth, and 'Leah' the affection for exterior truth, 3758, 3782, 3793, 3819.

[2] In this chapter 'Joseph' represents the celestial of the spiritual or truth from the Divine, which is the internal; 'Benjamin' represents the spiritual of the celestial, which is the intermediary going forth from the internal; and the remaining 'ten sons of Jacob' represent the truths known to the external Church and so truths that are present in the natural, as stated many times above. This chapter also deals with the joining of the internal aspect of the Church to its external aspect, corporately and in every specific part; for each person individually must be a Church if he is to form part of the Church as a corporate whole. But in the highest sense the chapter deals with the way in which the Lord united the Internal to the External within His Human so as to make this Divine.

3758. Genesis 29

1. And Jacob lifted up his feet and went to the land of the sons of the east.

2. And he saw, and behold, a well in the field, and behold, three droves of a flock there, lying nearby it; for out of that well they watered the droves; and there was a large stone over the mouth of the well.

3. And all the droves would be gathered there; and they would roll the stone from over the mouth of the well and water the flock; and they would put the stone back in its place over the mouth of the well.

4. And Jacob said to them, My brothers, where are you from? And they said, We are from Haran.

5. And he said to them, Do you know Laban the son of Nahor? And they said, We do.

6. And he said to them, Does he have peace? ¹ And they said, [He has] peace; and behold, Rachel his daughter is coming with the flock.

7. And he said, Behold, it is still high day; it is not time for the cattle to be gathered together; water the flock, and go and pasture them.

8. And they said, We cannot until all the droves are gathered together, and they have rolled the stone from over the mouth of the well, and we water the flock.

9. While he was still speaking to them Rachel came with the flock which was her father's, for she was a shepherdess.

10. And so it was, when Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban his mother's brother, and the flock of Laban his mother's brother, that Jacob came near and rolled the stone from over the mouth of the well, and watered the flock of Laban his mother's brother.

11. And Jacob kissed Rachel, and lifted up his voice and wept.

12. And Jacob told Rachel that he was her father's brother, and that he was Rebekah's son; and she ran and told her father.

13. And so it was, when Laban heard the news about Jacob his sister's son, that he ran to meet him, and embraced him, and kissed him, and brought him to his house. And he told Laban all these things.

14. And Laban said to him, Surely you are my bone and my flesh. And he dwelt with him for a full month.

15. And Laban said to Jacob, Because you are my brother should you serve me for nothing? Tell me, what shall your reward be?

16. And Laban had two daughters; the name of the elder was Leah, and the name of the younger Rachel.

17. And Leah's eyes were weak; and Rachel was beautiful in form and beautiful in appearance.

18. And Jacob loved Rachel and said, I will serve you seven years for Rachel your younger daughter.

19. And Laban said, It is better for me to give her to you than to give her to another man; remain with me.

20. And Jacob served seven years for Rachel; and they were in his eyes like a few days, because of his love for her.

21. And Jacob said to Laban, Give me my wife, for my days are completed, and I will go [in] to her.

22. And Laban gathered together all the men of the place and made a feast.

23. And so it was in the evening, that he took Leah his daughter and brought her to him; and he came [in] to her.

24. And Laban gave to her Zilpah his servant-girl - to Leah his daughter to be her servant-girl.

25. And so it was in the morning, that behold it was Leah. And he said to Laban, What is this you have done to me? Was it not for Rachel that I served with you? And why have you cheated me?

26. And Laban said, It is not done that way in our place, to give the younger before the firstborn.

27. Complete this week, and we will give you this one also for the service which you render with me for another seven years.

28. And Jacob did so and completed this week, and he gave him Rachel his daughter for his wife.

29. And Laban gave to Rachel his daughter Bilhah his servant-girl, to her to be a servant-girl.

30. And he came [in] also to Rachel, and he loved Rachel also, more than Leah; and he served with him yet another seven years.

31. And Jehovah saw that Leah was hated, and He opened her womb; and Rachel was barren.

32. And Leah conceived and bore a son; and she called his name Reuben, for she said, Because Jehovah has seen my affliction; for now my husband (vir) will love me.

33. And she conceived again and bore a son, and she said, For Jehovah has heard that I was hated and has given me this one also; and she called his name Simeon.

34. And she conceived again and bore a son, and she said, Now this time my husband (vir) will cling to me, because I have borne him three sons; therefore she called his name Levi.

35. And she conceived again and bore a son, and she said, This time I will confess Jehovah; therefore she called his name Judah. And she left off bearing.

CONTENTS

In this chapter 'Jacob' refers, in the internal sense, to the Lord's Natural, the subject being how the Good of Truth in His Natural was joined to a kindred good from a Divine source, meant by 'Laban'. First these were so joined through the affection for external truth, meant by 'Leah', and then through the affection for internal truth, meant by 'Rachel'.

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