Chapter 1.

The Book of the Birth of Jesus Christ

1. The book of the birth of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.

The first words said in Matthew are “The book of the birth of Jesus Christ.” ¹ In the original Greek, the very first word of the New Testament is Βίβλος (Biblos). meaning “Book.” Let us pause to ask, “What is meant by the term ‘book’? What is the universal or “internal sense” of this word?”

In the literal sense, a book is a collection of printed pages, bound together, and enclosed between covers that serve to protect the contents. More figuratively, we sometimes speak about our “book of life”; it is the record of our lives, containing everything we have ever done, thought, felt, loved and intended. In brief, it is really our essential self, our fundamental nature. So the term book in scripture represents much more than a physical book; it stands for every moment of our lives, what we have thought, what we have felt, and especially what our true motives have been — in short, the entire, interior content of our life. In other words, “the book of our life” is our true nature. ²

So, we are about to read a book — not just any book — but a book about the inmost states of a person’s life; it’s a book about motives and intentions; it’s about someone’s true character. And in this case, as the first verse clearly states, it’s a book about Jesus Christ.

Taken literally, this book will tell us about the external facts of Jesus’ life: His ancestry, His birth, His life, His death, and His resurrection. And as we read at a more spiritual level, we come to see that this book is about Jesus’ inner life — the revelation of His true character. This is the internal sense; it is the sense beyond and within the letter of scripture. It’s not just about external words and deeds; it’s about the thoughts and feelings within those words and deeds — the loving intentions that gave rise to everything that Jesus said and did.

As we study the internal sense of the events surrounding the life of Jesus, we begin to realize that the story of Jesus’ life parallels our own. We come to see that the gospel is not only a story about God’s coming to earth in the name and form of Jesus Christ; it is also a story about how God is “born” in each of us, “crucified” in each of us, and “rises again” in each of us. In other words, the gospels are not just about Jesus — although His story is crucially important; it’s about how God incarnates within each of us, how love and wisdom can take on flesh and blood within each of us, and how each of us can experience a new birth into spiritual life. It’s a wonderful, complex story not only about the temptations we must face, but also about the possibility of resurrections to new life in every moment.

In other words, the wonderful story about how God came to earth as Jesus Christ, was born in Bethlehem, grew up in Nazareth, performed miracles in Galilee, was crucified in Jerusalem and rose again is our story as well. It discloses the way God secretly fashions a new nature within each of us according to our willingness to live according to His will.

It should be noted, however, that spiritual development does not take place suddenly. It is a gradual process which takes place within every individual to the extent that a person strives to overcome tendencies towards self-will and self-absorption. Rather than being “reborn” in a moment, people who are regenerating are being born again and again as they enter ever higher levels of spiritual consciousness. These successive “births” are wondrously illustrated in the opening verses of Matthew where we read about the the “birth” or, as it is also translated, about the “generation” of Jesus Christ.

The term “generation,” spiritually seen, refers to the successive births of all things that are of love and faith. As we grow in our ability to receive God’s love, “Jesus” is being successively born in us; as we grow in our ability to receive God’s wisdom, “Christ” is being successively born in us. In brief, “the book of the generation of Jesus Christ,” refers to the miraculous way in which God generates new spiritual life in each of us. It is a book not only about Jesus and His gradual growth, but also about us. It’s a book about our gradual, sequential, perfectly ordered spiritual growth — a process called regeneration. ³

At first glance, the opening phrase, “The book of the birth of Jesus Christ,” seems to be nothing more than an introduction to a rather uneventful listing of Jesus’ ancestors in time. But seen more deeply, it is a summation of the spiritual history of humanity — the spiritual history of the human race up to the time of Jesus’ advent into the world. And at a deeper, more personal level, it is our own story, the story of our spiritual development. It is especially the story of our gradual opening to the advent of divine love and divine wisdom in our life, beginning with Jesus’ birth in us, and how His true nature gradually becomes our true nature until it can truly be said that we are “made in the image and likeness of God” (Genesis 1:26).

Son of David, Son of Abraham

At first, Jesus Christ is not seen as God Incarnate. He is seen as any other person born on earth — a man among men, descended from human beings, and having a specific ancestry. We read that He is descended from David, who in turn is descended from Abraham (υἱοῦ Δαυὶδ υἱοῦ Ἀβραάμ). But, as we shall see, a deeper look at this genealogy reveals that it is a record of how the human soul is gradually prepared for the birth of the Lord.

The genealogical table in Matthew includes fourteen generations from Abraham to David. This represents a succession of spiritual births in which we grow from early states of simple trust and obedient love (Abraham) into more developed states of understanding and truth (King David). But along with understanding and truth comes a forgetting of our earlier, simpler, more childlike states of trust and obedience. And so, there are fourteen more generations from David to the captivity in Babylon — a succession of births recording our gradual spiritual decline as the accumulation of hereditary evils increasingly overtake us and hold us captive.

This is spiritual “Babylon,” a state in which our primary concern is for ourselves, with little thought of loving others or serving God. At its worst, Babylon represents the desire to rule over others, and to control them. In brief, it is to deny others the right to make their own choices or to enjoy their own freedom. Instead, believing we know what is right for others, we make ourselves (either through direct rule, or more subtly through clever manipulation) their lord and master. Though it would be difficult to admit, whenever we do this, we have put ourselves in the place of God. ⁴

Our descent into total bondage to evil does not happen overnight; rather it comes about gradually as we rely more and more on ourselves and less and less on God. Finally, there are recorded fourteen more generations, during which time we fall into utter spiritual darkness. We begin to believe that we alone know the truth, and in doing so, we forget about God; we might even believe that God does not exist at all.

All would be lost if it were not for one thing. At first, we may hardly notice it at all, for it happens as inconspicuously as the birth of a child in a stable. It is a quiet occurrence without any particular grandeur, and yet it is the greatest, most significant moment in our lives. It is the birth of God in us; it begins as only a dim awareness that there is something holy, pure, and righteous in life, something that is both within us and beyond us. It is a dawning in the darkness; the one who called Himself “the light of the world” is about to be born in us. It is as if God is saying, “Let there be light” (Genesis 1:3).

The Genealogy

2. Abraham begot Isaac; and Isaac begot Jacob; and Jacob begot Judah and his brothers;

3. And Judah begot Perez and Zara of Tamar; and Perez begot Hesrom; and Hesrom begot Aram;

4. And Aram begot Aminadab; and Aminadab begot Naasson; and Naasson begot Salmon;

5. And Salmon begot Boaz of Rahab; and Boaz begot Obed of Ruth; and Obed begot Jesse;

6. And Jesse begot David the king; and David the king begot Solomon of her [who had been the wife] of Uriah;

7. And Solomon begot Rehoboam; and Rehoboam begot Abijah; and Abijah begot Asa;

8. And Asa begot Jehoshaphat; and Jehoshaphat begot Joram; and Joram begot Uzziah;

9. And Uzziah begot Jotham; and Jotham begot Ahaz; and Ahaz begot Hezekiah;

10. And Hezekiah begot Manasseh; and Manasseh begot Amon; and Amon begot Josiah;

11. And Josiah begot Jechoniah and his brothers, at [the time] of the carrying away into Babylon;

12. And after the carrying away into Babylon, Jechoniah begot Salathiel; and Salathiel begot Zerubbabel;

13. And Zerubbabel begot Abiud; and Abiud begot Eliakim; and Eliakim begot Azor;

14. And Azor begot Zadok; and Zadok begot Achim; and Achim begot Eliud;

15. And Eliud begot Eleazar; and Eleazar begot Matthan; and Matthan begot Jacob;

16. And Jacob begot Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.

17. Therefore all the generations from Abraham until David [are] fourteen generations; and from David until the carrying away into Babylon [are] fourteen generations; and from the carrying away into Babylon until the Christ [are] fourteen generations.

The first seventeen verses of Matthew record a succession of spiritual births. From one point of view, these spiritual births chronicle the development of the human race from first conception — creation itself — to the first coming of the Lord.

But from another point of view, these first seventeen verses reveal the descent of the Divine through the heavens — the Infinite God of the universe taking on a finite human form. This “finition” of the Divine was absolutely necessary, for if God were indeed to come to earth, He would have to do so in a way that we could grasp and understand. If He were to manifest Himself in all His glory, no one could possibly bear His presence any more than one could bear the heat and light of the sun touching the earth. His Glory and divinity would have to be clothed in humility and humanity. The burning fire of the divine love and the blinding glory of the divine truth must be accommodated to our ability to receive. ⁵

The greatest example of this is how the literal stories of scripture — although they are accommodated to finite, human understanding — contain infinite levels of truth. In this way the Word of God serves as an external container of inner truth, just as the body functions as a container for the soul. The same can be said of Jesus Christ who was born of Mary. His human body, conceived in Mary’s womb, served as an external covering for the Infinite Love and Wisdom that were His very essence — His Divine Soul.

This was the only way that Jehovah God could come to earth and be with us. It was necessary that He take on a human body, along with its corrupted heredity — the heredity He received in Mary’s womb. This is quite different from the idea that Jesus was born “without sin,” or that His mother, Mary, was “exempt from original sin.” ⁶

The case is very much the opposite. In fact, God needed to be born in the womb of an ordinary woman — a woman with ordinary faults and failings. And He had to do so in an ordinary way — just as He is born in each of us when we are ready to receive Him. In fact it was absolutely necessary that Mary be a normal person, inclined to evils of every kind, just like anyone else. In this way Jesus could take on, through Mary, a corrupted human heredity. Through this external covering, He could be like one of us, making Himself both approachable and accessible.

But making Himself accessible to human beings was only part of the plan. By taking on human fallibility through Mary, He also made Himself accessible to evil spirits. Clothed in a human body, with all of its limitations and inherited corruptions, He could be approached and attacked by hellish influences — evil spirits from hell who desired nothing more than to destroy Him, both soul and body. ⁷

This process might be compared to a “sting operation” in which Jesus made Himself potentially susceptible to evil — something altogether impossible if He had remained fully Divine. In taking on a body from Mary, along with its inclinations to evil, Jesus was able to “draw out” the evil spirits who openly attacked Him. Through successive combats of this nature, He gradually subjugated the hells and glorified His humanity.

When we read of Jesus’ life on earth in the literal narrative, we see little of this inner struggle, or what Swedenborg calls His “combats against the hells.” But a careful reading of the internal sense will show us in what way, and to what degree, God fought for us (in Jesus) — not just on the cross, but throughout His entire life on earth.

The Power of Adoption

18. And the birth of Jesus Christ was in this way: His mother Mary, being betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, was found with child from the Holy Spirit.

19. And Joseph her husband, being just, and not willing to expose her to public infamy, intended to send her away privately.

20. And while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, fear not to take to thee Mary thy wife, for that which is begotten in her is from the Holy Spirit.

21. And she shall bring forth a Son, and thou shalt call His name Jesus; for He shall save His people from their sins.”

22. And all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was declared by the Lord through the prophet, saying,

23. “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel, which is, being translated, God with us.”

24. And Joseph, being awakened from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord had directed him, and took to him his wife,

25. And knew her not, until she brought forth her firstborn Son; and he called His name Jesus.

As we have seen, verses one through seventeen record the developmental process by which the human soul is prepared for the birth of Jesus Christ. Next, in verses eighteen through twenty-five, the birth process itself is recorded, from conception to delivery. The language of the letter could not be more specific: “Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows.” Then comes this key statement: “After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit” (1:18)

It is marvelous how clearly this is stated in the literal sense of the Word. That which is born of Mary has no mortal father; rather, this Child is born of the Holy Spirit. Initially, Joseph is “minded to put her away secretly.” This is because Joseph knows that he is not the father of this child. In other words, Jesus does not have a human father — nor does He need one. That’s because the Father is in Him as His very soul. ⁸ It is quite clear, then, that Jesus is not the son of Joseph.” Jesus is born of “the Holy Spirit” — the Spirit of God descending to earth to take on human form. ⁹

The child conceived within Mary’s womb is not Joseph’s child, and Joseph knows it. And yet, even while Joseph struggles within himself, he is comforted by an angel who says “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to yourself Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins” (1:20-21).

Like all human beings, Joseph is naturally inclined to love his own offspring best, just as we tend to love our own ideas more than the ideas that are generated by others. In the corporate world, the phrase “not invented here” refers to the idea that we prefer to buy the products that our own company produces, rather than the products of a competitor. Similarly, the ego tends to be proud of its own ideas, even as parents take more pride in the accomplishments of their own offspring than in the achievements of other children.

But Joseph “being a just man” realizes that there is more going on than his own ego concerns. At this point, he represents a quality in us that can awaken to spiritual reality: “Being awakened from sleep,” Joseph does exactly what the angel of the Lord commands (1:24). This is a picture of how we gradually come to see that our highest thoughts and most tender feelings are not from us (“not invented here”), that they are not the result of our clever understanding, nor are they the product of our sympathetic nature. In other words, our highest thoughts and tenderest feelings are not our offspring; rather, they are gifts and blessings that come to us, and are given to us, so that we may adopt them as our own. This is sometimes referred to as “grace,” a gift that is freely bestowed upon us without our doing anything to earn it or deserve it.

Whenever we are “awakened from sleep,” like Joseph, we begin to see that the truth we have been given and the compassion we feel are always miraculous births — and that God is the true Father. The “Holy Spirit” has come upon us; all we have to do is adopt these noble thoughts and benevolent emotions — as Joseph did — as if they are our own. ¹⁰

Footnotes:

3703. 'And He said, I am Jehovah, the God of Abraham your father' means the Lord in whom that good originated. This becomes clear from the fact that Jehovah is the Divine Being (Esse) itself of the Lord, who is called 'the God of Abraham' by virtue of Divine Good - 'Abraham' representing the Lord as regards Divine Good, see 2172, 2198. And because Divine Good is the source of all celestial and spiritual goods, and consequently of all truths also, the phrase 'your (that is, Jacob's) father Abraham' is used, when in fact Isaac was his father. The reason why 'father' in the internal sense means good is that good is the source of every single thing that has being and truth the means by which it is brought into being. Thus every single thing is born from a marriage of good and truth. Heaven itself, which consists of nothing else at all but the Divine marriage of Good and Truth, derives from the Divine Marriage of Good and Truth and of Truth and Good within the Lord.

[2] The whole natural order also in every single part has reference to what is good and what is true. In it, that is, the natural order, the celestial and spiritual goods and truths that belong to heaven are represented, and in heaven Divine Goods and Truths that are the Lord's are represented. From this it becomes clear that good is like the father and truth is like the mother, and that therefore 'father' in the internal sense of the Word means good, and 'mother' truth. Indeed they mean the goodness and truth in which lower or derived goods and truths originate, which in relation to them are as daughters and sons, and are also consequently called daughters and sons in the Word, 489-491, 2362. They are also in relation to that good and truth as brothers and sisters, as grandchildren and great grandchildren, as sons-in-law, fathers-in-law, and daughters-in-law; in short they are as every degree of blood relationship and relationship by marriage. And all these relationships stem from the marriage of good, which is the father, to truth, which is the mother. For all things - every single one - in heaven exist as in blood relationships of love to and faith in the Lord, or what amounts to the same, of good and truth, see 685, 917, 2739, 3612, and the most ancient people therefore compared all these things to marriages, 54, 55. See also 718, 747, 1432, 2508, 2516, 2524, 2556.

[3] That 'father' in the internal sense of the Word means good may be seen from very many places, as from the following: In Isaiah,

Pay attention to Me, you who are pursuing righteousness, who are seeking Jehovah; look to the rock from which you were hewn; and to the hole of the pit from which you were dug; look to Abraham your father and to Sarah who bore you, for when he was but one I called him; and I blessed him, and I will multiply him. For Jehovah will comfort Zion, He will comfort all her waste places, and will make her wilderness like Eden and her desert like the garden of Jehovah. Isaiah 51:1-3.

This refers to the Lord and His Coming, as is evident from every detail. As regards Divine Truth He is called 'a rock' and 'a pit', and as regards Divine Good 'Abraham your father'. And because the Divine marriage of Good and Truth is represented by Abraham and Sarah, see 1468, 1901, 1965, 1989, 2011, 2063, 2065, 2172, 2173, 2198, 2507, 2833, 2836, 2904, 3245, 3251, 3305 (end), the expressions 'Abraham your father' and 'Sarah who bore you' are used. This explains why it is said that they were to look to the rock and to the pit, and to Abraham their father and to Sarah. It also explains why the promises follow immediately after, declaring that 'Jehovah will comfort Zion', which is the celestial Church, see 2362, and that 'He will comfort her waste places, and will make her wilderness like Eden and her desert like the garden of Jehovah'.

[4] Abraham has a similar meaning when elsewhere in the Word he is called 'father', as in John,

Jesus said, I speak what I have seen with My Father, and you also do what you have seen with your father. They answered and said to Him, Our father is Abraham. Jesus said to them, If you were Abraham's sons, you would do the works of Abraham. You do the works of your father. John 8:38-39, 41.

And in Matthew,

Do not presume to say within yourselves, We have Abraham as our father. I tell you that God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees; every tree not bearing good fruit will be cut down and cast into the fire. Matthew 3:9-10.

And in Luke,

When the poor man Lazarus died he was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was buried; and when he was in hell he raised his eyes and saw Abraham far off, and Lazarus in his bosom. Calling out he said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me. I ask you, father, to send him to my father's house. Luke 16:19-end.

In these places it is evident that Abraham was not meant but the Lord as regards Divine Good. For Abraham is unknown in heaven, and when his name is used in the Word the Lord is meant, see 1834, 1876, 1989, 3305 (end).

[5] That 'father' means good in the internal sense becomes clear from the following places: In Moses,

Honour your father and your mother, that your days may be prolonged on the land which Jehovah your God gives you. Exodus 20:12; Deuteronomy 5:16.

This commandment, like the rest of the Ten Commandments, is true in both senses - in the internal sense 'honouring father and mother' is loving what is good and true, and in what is good and true loving the Lord, see 2609, 3690. 'Days on the land' means resulting states of good within the Lord's kingdom, as is clear from the meaning of 'days' as states, 23, 487, 488, 493, 893, 2788, and from the meaning of Canaan, to which 'the land' refers here, as the Lord's kingdom, 1607, 3038, 3481, and from 'being prolonged' having reference to good, 1613.

[6] Since 'father and mother' had these meanings many laws were therefore laid down in the Jewish representative Church relating to parents and sons. In every case good and truth were meant in the internal sense, and in the highest sense the Lord as regards Divine Good and Divine Truth, as in Moses,

Whoever strikes his father and his mother shall surely die. If anyone curses his father or his mother he shall surely die. Exodus 21:15, 17.

In the same author,

Any man who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death; he who curses his father and his mother, his blood shall be on him. Leviticus 20:9.

Cursed is he who treats his father and his mother with contempt; and all the people shall say, Amen. Deuteronomy 27:16, 17.

In Ezekiel,

Behold, the princes of Israel, every one according to his power, ¹ have in you been intent on shedding blood; in you they have treated father and mother with contempt. Ezekiel 22:6-7.

In Moses,

When a man has a stubborn and rebellious son, in no way obeying the voice of his father or the voice of his mother, and though they correct him he still does not obey them, his father and his mother shall take hold of him and bring him to the elders of the city, and to the gateway of their place. And all the men of that city shall stone him with stones so that he dies. Deuteronomy 21:18-19, 21.

[7] In all these places 'father and mother' in the sense of the letter is used to mean father and mother, but in the internal sense good and truth are meant, and in the highest sense the Lord as regards Divine Good and Divine Truth. This is also the Lord's own teaching in Matthew,

Jesus stretching out His hand over His disciples said, Beyond My mother and My brothers; whoever does the will of My Father who is in heaven is My brother, and sister, and mother. Matthew 12:49-50.

And in the same gospel,

Refuse to be called master, for one is your Master, Christ; but all you are brothers. And call nobody your father on earth, for one is your Father who is in heaven. Matthew 23:8-9.

It is not being called master or being called father on earth that is forbidden here, but acknowledging in the heart any other father than the Lord. That is, when the names master and father are used one should understand the Lord whom in the highest sense they represent, in the same way, as stated just above in 3702, as anything perceived on earth by the most ancient people who were celestial was to them the means for thought concerning the Lord.

[8] Much the same is embodied in what the Lord told one of the disciples who said,

Lord, let me first go away and bury my father. Jesus said to him, Follow Me; leave the dead to bury the dead. Matthew 8:21-22.

Indeed the relationship of father on earth to Father in heaven, who is the Lord, is as one who is dead to one who is living, even as the law itself about honouring parents is so to speak dead unless it holds honour, worship, and love to the Lord within it. For that law about honouring parents comes down from the latter Divine law. And because it comes down from the latter, the living element which exists within the law about honouring parents is received from this Divine law. This is why the Lord said, 'Follow Me, leave the dead to bury the dead'. What Elijah told Elisha is also similar in meaning,

Elijah passed beside Elisha and cast his mantle over him, and he left the oxen and ran after Elijah, and said, Let me kiss, I beg you, my father and mother; then I will go after you. He therefore said to him, Go away; go back again; for what have I done to you? 1 Kings 19:19-20.

Elijah represented the Lord - see Preface to Chapter 18, and 2762.

[9] In Malachi,

Lo, I am sending you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of Jehovah comes. And he will turn the heart of the fathers to the sons, and the heart of the sons to their fathers lest I come and smite the earth with a ban. Malachi 4:5-6.

And in Luke where the angel addresses Zechariah regarding his son John,

He will go before the Lord in the spirit and power of Elijah to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children. Luke 1:17.

From these places it is evident that 'fathers' and 'sons' are not used to mean fathers and sons but the goods and truths of the Church which the Lord is going to restore.

[10] In Malachi,

May Jehovah be magnified upon the border of Israel! A son should honour his father, and a servant his lord. If I am a Father, where is My honour? If I am a Lord, where is the fear of Me? Malachi 1:5-6.

'A son' stands for those who are governed by the good of the Church, 'a servant' those who are governed by its truth. Here 'a Father' clearly stands for the Lord as regards Divine Good, and 'a Lord' as regards Divine Truth.

[11] In David,

My father and my mother have forsaken me, and Jehovah welcomes me. Psalms 27:10.

'Father and mother' stands for good and truth which are said to have forsaken a person when it is realized that of himself he is unable to perform anything good or to know anything true. For the meaning, it is evident, is not that David's mother and father forsook him.

[12] In the same author,

You are more beautiful by far than the sons of men. All glorious is the king's daughter within, in her clothing with gold interweavings. Instead of your fathers will be your sons; you will make them into princes in all the earth. Psalms 45:2, 13, 16.

This refers to the Lord. 'Instead of your fathers will be your sons' stands for Divine Truths becoming as Divine Goods. 'The king's daughter' stands for the love of truth; 'clothing with gold interweavings' for the nature of that truth grounded in good. Since the subject is the Lord and His Divine Human, as is evident from this Psalm as a whole and in every part, every single phrase clearly has reference to one and the same thing. So the phrase 'the king's daughter' is not used to mean the daughter of the king, nor are the phrases 'clothing with gold interweavings', 'instead of your fathers will be your sons', and 'their being made into princes in all the earth' to be taken literally, but each phrase means Divine celestial and spiritual things. 'A daughter' means affection or love, see 490, 491, 2362; 'the king' Divine Truth, 1672, 1728, 2015, 2069, 3009; 'gold' good, 113, 1551, 1552. 'That which is interwoven' has reference to natural knowledge, 2831, in this case therefore to Divine natural truth. 'Clothing' means such truths as clothe good, 297, 2576; 'sons instead of fathers' truths begotten from good, in this case Divine Truths being as Divine Goods, 264, 489, 491, 533, 1147, 1729, 1733, 2159, 2623, 2803, 2813. 'Princes in all the earth' are the first and foremost things of the Lord's kingdom and Church - 'princes' being the things that are first and foremost, 1482, 2089, 'the earth' the Lord's kingdom and Church, 1413, 1607, 1733, 1850, 2117, 2118 (end), 3355.

[13] In Moses,

Your fathers Jehovah delighted to love, and He chose their seed after them, even you out of all peoples, as at this day. Therefore circumcise the foreskin of your heart and be stiff-necked no longer. Deuteronomy 10:15-16.

'Fathers' here in the internal sense stands for the Ancient and Most Ancient Churches, whose members were so called by virtue of the love they had of good and truth - the most ancient people, who were celestial, by virtue of their love of good, the ancients, who were spiritual, by virtue of their love of truth. The goods and truths existing in the Church are referred to as 'the seed Jehovah chose'. Clearly Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and the latter's twelve sons are not meant by the fathers referred to here, nor the Israelite and Jewish people by 'the seed'. Rather the statement is made regarding them and addressed to them in order that the internal sense may be given some external form and so be intelligible to men.

[14] In Isaiah,

The boy will uplift himself against the old man, and the base fellow against the honourable; for a man will take hold of his brother in his father's house, [saying,] You have clothing, you will be leader for us. He will say, In my house there is neither bread [nor clothing]. Do not make me a leader ² of the people. Isaiah 3:5-7.

This refers in the internal sense to a perverted state of the Church when truth is no longer acknowledged as truth, and it is not known what good is. 'A man will take hold of his brother in his father's house' stands for acknowledging everything as good. 'Clothing' stands for truth, 1073, 2576, 'a leader (or prince)' for a first and foremost matter of doctrine drawn from truth, 1482, 2089. 'In the house there is neither bread nor clothing' stands for neither good nor truth - 'bread' meaning good, 276, 680, 3478, and 'clothing' truth, 297, 2576.

[15] Because father and mother, and also daughters and sons, represented goodness and truth in the representative Churches many laws existed which possessed from those representatives that which was Divine within them, such as the following,

If a priest's daughter has acted profanely by committing whoredom, she is profaning her father; she shall be burnt with fire. Leviticus 21:9.

'A priest's daughter' stands for the affection for good, 'father' for the good from which that affection springs. 'Committing whoredom' stands for profaning what is good. What 'committing whoredom' is, see 2466, 2729, 3399, and what 'acting profanely', 1008, 1010, 1059, 2051, 3398, 3399. Also,

If a priest's daughter has been made a widow or divorced and has no seed she shall return to her father's house, as in her youth; she shall eat of her father's bread. No stranger shall eat of it. Leviticus 22:13.

[16] And this law also,

If you see among the captives a wife with a beautiful form and you desire her to take her for yourself as wife you shall bring her inside your home; and she shall shave her head and pare her nails; and she shall take off the clothing of her captivity born upon her, and shall sit in your house and lament her father and her mother a whole month; and after that you shall go in to her and know her, and she shall be your wife. Deuteronomy 21:11-13.

Every single detail in this law is representative of natural truth, which is adopted by good once it has been purified from falsities. Such truth is meant by 'a wife beautiful in form among the captives'; purification from falsities by 'bringing her inside your home', and by her 'shaving her head, paring her nails, taking off the clothing of her captivity, and lamenting her father and mother'; and adoption by 'after that going in to her, knowing her, and taking her as a wife'.

[17] The Marriage Laws requiring marriages to be contracted within the tribe and the family, and also the Inheritance Laws forbidding the transfer of inheritances from one tribe to another, which are written in the Word, also had the same origins, that is to say, in the celestial and spiritual marriage in the Lord's kingdom, or the marriage of good and truth, which are meant by 'father and mother'. The same applies to the laws laid down relating to the permissible and the forbidden degrees of affinity. Each law in the Word concerning those matters has reference inwardly to the law of the affiliation and joining together of good and truth in heaven, and to the affiliations of evil and falsity in hell, which are separated from the former. For laws to do with permissible and forbidden degrees, see Leviticus 20; for laws forbidding the transfer of inheritances from one tribe to another, and for those requiring marriages to be contracted within the tribe, see Numbers 27:7-9, and elsewhere. In heaven the position of every single thing is fixed according to blood relationships of good and truth and to relationships of them through marriage, see 685, 917, 2739, 3612.

[18] Since the Israelitish people represented the Lord's kingdom in heaven and so the heavenly order existing there, the command was also given for them to be singled out according to tribes, according to families, and according to the houses of their fathers, see Numbers 26:1-end. In addition to this they were required to pitch camp around the tent of meeting in conformity with that heavenly order, and also to journey in conformity with it, as stated in Moses,

Each one of the children of Israel shall pitch camp beneath his own standard, by the ensigns of his father's house, at a distance around the tent of meeting. And in the same formations they also set out. Numbers 2:2, 34.

This was why, when Balaam saw Israel dwelling according to their tribes, the Spirit of God came upon him and he delivered this utterance, How good your tabernacles are, O Jacob, your dwelling-places, O Israel? They are like valleys that are planted, like gardens beside a river, etc., etc. Numbers 24:2, 5-6, and following verses.

From every word used here it is evident that not Jacob or Israel were meant but the Lord's kingdom in heaven and His Church on earth, which were represented by that order in which he saw them spread out at that time.

[19] From these examples one may also know what is meant in the internal sense of the Word by orphans! that is, the fatherless, namely people whose state is a state of innocence and charity and who wish to know and put into effect what is good but are not able to do so. Such a state exists in particular with those outside the Church whom the Lord cares about and adopts in the next life as His sons. And since those people are meant by 'orphans', when these are mentioned in the Word, sojourners and widows are in many instances mentioned too. For 'sojourners' means those who are receiving instruction in goods and truths, 1463, and 'widows' those whose state is one of good but not so much of truth, or those whose state is one of truth but not so much of good, and who yet desire what they lack. Since these three - orphans, sojourners, and widows - belong to a very similar line of meaning, therefore all three are in most places mentioned together, as has been stated, see Deuteronomy 14:29; 16:11, 14; 24:17, 19; Jeremiah 7:6; 22:3; Ezekiel 22:6-7; Zechariah 7:10; Psalms 94:6; 146:9. From these considerations one may now see what 'father' means in the genuine sense, namely good, and in the highest sense the Lord.

[20] Now because most things in the Word also have a contrary sense, so has the word 'father'. In that sense it means evil. Equally so 'mother', which in the genuine sense means truth, in the contrary sense means falsity. The contrary meanings may be seen from the following places: In David,

The iniquity of his fathers will be remembered before Jehovah, and the sin of his mother will not be wiped out. Psalms 109:14.

In the same author,

They drew back and acted treacherously like their fathers; they turned about like a deceitful bow. Psalms 78:57.

In Moses,

Until the remainder of you waste away in their iniquity in the lands of your enemies: and they will also waste away in their fathers' iniquities with them. Leviticus 26:39. In Isaiah,

Prepare slaughter for his sons because of the iniquity of their fathers, and let them not rise up again and possess the earth, and fill the face of the earth with cities. Isaiah 14:21.

In the same prophet, I will repay your iniquities, and the iniquities of your fathers together. Isaiah 65:7.

[21] In Jeremiah,

The house of Israel is ashamed, they, their kings, their princes, and their priests, and their prophets, who say to wood, You are my father, and to a stone, You gave birth to me. For they have turned their neck to Me and not their face. Jeremiah 2:26-27.

In the same prophet,

Behold, I am laying before this people stumbling-blocks, and fathers and sons together will stumble against them, neighbour and his friend, and they will perish. Jeremiah 6:21.

In the same prophet,

The sons gather pieces of wood, and the fathers kindle fire, and the women knead dough to make cakes for Melecheth. ³ Jeremiah 7:18.

In Ezekiel,

I will do in you that which I have not done, and such things as I will not do any longer, because of your abominations. Therefore fathers will eat their sons, and sons will eat their fathers; and I will execute judgements on you, and I will scatter the whole remnant of you to every wind. Ezekiel 5:9-10.

This refers to the profanation of what is holy. In the same prophet,

Thus said the Lord Jehovih to Jerusalem, Your tracings and your births are of the land of the Canaanite. Your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite. Ezekiel 16:3.

[22] In Matthew,

Brother will deliver up brother to death, and father the son; and children will rise up against parents and put them to death. And so you will be hated by everyone for My name's sake. I have come to set a man (homo) against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a man's (homo) foes will be those in his own household. Whoever loves father and mother more than Me is not worthy of Me, and whoever loves son and daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. Matthew 10:21-22, 35-37; Luke 12:49, 52-53.

In the same gospel,

Everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or fields for My name's sake will receive a hundredfold and will be allotted the inheritance of eternal life. Matthew 19:29; Luke 18:29-30; Mark 10:29-30.

In Luke,

If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and his mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own soul, he cannot be My disciple. Luke 14:26.

[23] In Mark,

Brother will deliver up brother to death, and the father his children, and children will rise up together against parents and will kill them; for you will be hated by all for My name's sake. Mark 13:12-13; Luke 21:16-17.

This refers to the close of the age and is describing the state of the Church when perverted as regards good and truth, that is to say, when evil rises up against truth, and falsity against good. The meaning of 'father' in the contrary sense as evil is evident from the places just quoted and also from the following in John,

Jesus said, If God were your father you would love Me, for from God I went forth and now come. You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desire. He was a murderer from the beginning and took no stand on the truth because the truth is not in him. When he speaks a lie he speaks from what are his own, for he is the teller of a lie and the father of it. John 8:42, 44.

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