and a fountain shall go forth out of the house of Jehovah, and shall water the valley of Shittim. Egypt shall be a desolation, and Edom shall be for a desolate wilderness for the violence done to the sons of Judah, because they have shed innocent blood in their land. But Judah shall abide forever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation (iii. 18, 20). From all the particulars in this passage also it is manifest that by Judah is not meant Judah, nor by Jerusalem, Jerusalem, but those who are in the holy of love and charity, for these shall abide forever, and from generation to generIo ation. So in Malachi: Behold, I send Mine angel and he shall prepare the way before Me; and the Lord, Whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to His temple; and the angel of the covenant, whom ye desire. . . . Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto Jehovah, as in the days of old, and as in ancient years (iii. 1, 4) - where the coming of the Lord is treated of. That at that time the offering of Judah and Jerusalem was not pleasant unto Jehovah, is evident; from this it is manifest that by Judah and Jerusalem are signified such things as are of the Lord's church. The case is the same in other parts of the Word where mention is made of Judah, of Israel, and of Jerusalem. Hence then it may be evident what is signified by Judah in Matthew, namely, the Lord's church, in the present case vastated. 3655. The subject treated of in the preceding verses in the evangelist, was the first and second state of the church's perversion. That the first state consisted in this, that they no longer knew what is good and what is true, but disputed about it among themselves, whence come falsities, may be seen above (n. 3354); and that the second state consisted in their despising good and truth, and also in being averse thereto, and thus in the expiration of faith in the Lord, according to the degrees of the cessation of charity, may be seen above (n. 3487, 3488). This then is the third state treated of, which is that of the desolation of the church as to good and truth. CHAPTER XXVIII. 1. And Isaac called Jacob, and blessed him, and commanded him, and said unto him, Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan. 2. Arise, go to Paddan-Aram, to the house of Bethuel, thy mother's father, and take thee from thence a wife of the daughters of Laban thy mother's brother. 3. And God Shaddai will bless thee, and will make thee fruitful and multiply thee, and thou shalt be a company of peoples. 4. And He will give thee the blessing of Abraham, to thee and to thy seed with thee, to cause thee to inherit the land of thy sojournings, which God gave unto Abraham. 5. And Isaac sent away Jacob: and he went to PaddanAram, to Laban the son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, the mother of Jacob and Esau. 6. And Esau saw that Isaac blessed Jacob, and sent him to Paddan-Aram, to take him from thence a wife, and in blessing him commanded him, saying, Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan. 7. And Jacob hearkened to his father and to his mother, and went to Paddan-Aram. 8. And Esau saw that the daughters of Canaan were evil in the eyes of Isaac his father. 9. And Esau went to Ishmael, and took Mahalath, the daughter of Ishmael Abraham's son, the sister of Nebaioth, over his women to himself to wife. 10. And Jacob went out from Beersheba, and went toward Haran. II. And he lighted upon a place, and passed the night there, for the sun was set; and he took one of the stones of the place, and placed it for his pillows, and lay down in that place. 12. And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set on the earth, and its head reaching to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending upon it. 13. And behold Jehovah standing above it, and He said, I am Jehovah, the God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed. 14. And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt break forth to the sea, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south; and in thee shall all the families of the ground be blessed, and in thy seed. 15. And behold I am with thee, and will keep thee whithersoever thou goest, and will bring thee back to this ground; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee. 16. And Jacob awoke out of his sleep, and he said, Surely Jehovah is in this place; and I knew it not. 17. And he feared, and said, How terrible is this place; this is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven. 18. And Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took the stone that he had placed for his pillows, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil upon the head of it. 19. And he called the name of that place Bethel; but the name of the city was Luz at the first. 20. And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, If God will be with me and will keep me in this way wherein I walk, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on ; 21. And I return in peace to my father's house, and Jehovah shall be to me for God. 22. And this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God's house; and all that Thou shalt give me, tithing I I will tithe it to Thee. CONTENTS. 3656. In the supreme sense this chapter treats of the Lord, how He began to make His natural Divine, as to truth and as to good; and the means by which He effected this are described in general. But in the representative sense is described how the Lord regenerates or makes new the natural of man, as to truth and as to good; the process in general is in like manner described — verses 1-10. 3657. In the internal supreme sense is described how the Lord began to make His natural Divine as to truth from the verses II-22. INTERNAL SENSE. 3658. Verses 1, 2. And Isaac called Jacob, and blessed him, and commanded him, and said unto him, Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan. Arise, go to Paddan-Aram, to the house of Bethuel, thy mother's father, and take thee from thence a wife of the daughters of Laban thy mother's brother. "And Isaac called Jacob" signifies perception of quality from the Lord as to the good of truth; "and blessed him" signifies that thus conjunction would be effected; "and commanded him, and said unto him" sig- nifies reflection and thence perception; "Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan" signifies provided he would not be conjoined to affections for falsity and evil. thence; "go to Paddan-Aram" signifies knowledges of such truth; "the house of Bethuel, thy mother's father, and take thee from thence a wife of the daughters of Laban thy mother's brother " signifies collateral external good, and truth therefrom which was to be conjoined. 3659. And Isaac called Jacob. That this signifies perception of quality as to the good of truth from the Lord, is evident from the signification of calling any one, as perception of quality (n. 3609); and from the representation. of Isaac, as the Lord as to the Divine good of the Divine rational (n. 1893, 2066, 2072, 2083, 2630, 3012, 3194, 3210); and from the representation of Jacob, as the Lord as to natural truth (n. 1893, 3305, 3509, 3525, 3546, 3576, 3599). But here, and in what follows in this chapter, Jacob represents the good of that truth; from this it is manifest that by the words, "Isaac called Jacob," is signified the perception of quality from the Lord as to the good of 2 truth. That Jacob here represents the good of that truth, is because now he had taken the birthright of Esau, and also his blessing, and thereby took on the person of Esau, but still no further than as to the good of that truth, namely, the truth which he before represented; for all truth, whatsoever it be and whatsoever its quality, has in it good, inasmuch as truth is not truth unless from good, it being called truth therefrom. By the birthright which he took, and by the blessing, he obtained this privilege over Esau, that his posterity should succeed to the promise made to Abraham and Isaac concerning the land of Canaan, and thus that by him should be represented the Divine natural of the Lord, as by Isaac was represented the Divine rational, and by Abraham His Divine Itself. In order therefore that the representative might fall upon one person, it was permitted that he should thus take from Esau the birthright, and afterward the blessing. Hence it is that Jacob now represents the good of the natural, but here in the beginning the good of that truth, namely, the truth which he just before |