It is here that Abram told his wife Sarai to say that she is his sister and not his wife to the Egyptians and one may wonder if doing so was just or right. Was he right in having his wife lie to the Egyptians? Is the Bible, the Word of God, telling us it is ok to lie in certain circumstances? Since this is the Word of God, what should the moral and religious teaching here be? First, let us say that this way or kind of thinking comes from our natural understanding of this historical incident. Such thinking leads us away from the genuine truth that is being taught here, because these thoughts and ideas are not confirmed from the spiritual sense. The Word is not a history book, but the history in it is often used to teach things concerning the Lord, though this usually can only be seen from its spiritual sense. The problem is that we cannot from our natural understanding see this, but only from an internal sense and so, the doctrine that we come to form from places like this is merely according to our own ideas and is often void of any spiritual truth and, thus is a false teaching. The doctrine we should develop for ourselves should be from the spiritual out of a celestial origin and not one from our own understanding. What we need to see is that the written Word about the histories of the Hebrews, the Israelites, and primarily the Church are really representatives and significations of the Lord, of His glorification and His Kingdom. We are to learn its genuine truth and be led to conjunction with the Lord and with Heaven. In fact, understanding the Word only from our own natural understanding very often is not the (genuine) truth, but are falsities and, so false doctrines are learned.
It is taught in the Word that Abram and Sarai his wife journeyed to Egypt and, we know that Jesus as a child also journeyed to Egypt with His earthly parents. However, in past doctrinal papers and in sermons one has learned that the Word is primarily about the Lord and, thus Abram in the spiritual sense signifies the child Jesus and the various states that He underwent towards His glorification and, here, in the present case, we see that the Lord had learned such knowledge or cognitions - natural truths - about the Divine and became aware that He was from the Divine and that the Divine was in Him as His Soul. He was in fact forming vessels within Himself, opening His mind - His will and understanding - to the Divine in order to receive knowledge and scientifics concerning love to the Lord God and love to the neighbor. These are the truths that every person is to come into. Thus, the Lord was progressing towards His glorification even while in His childhood and in this is the state of learning cognitions - the natural truths that every man first comes to. The Lord had to learn these as does any other child.
By being born as a man, by assuming a human from the mother, the Lord had life as any child. The celestial, that is, His Soul was adjoined to that natural truth learned, though this celestial truth was not conjoined with His natural understanding and will, which was His proprium from the mother and was like any other person's. So, from this we understand that such truth is adjoined, that is, that it is in contact, though not conjoined in this state with the celestial things - goods and truths - while the Lord was in such a state. This is because the Lord was a Celestial man, while we are natural men and are without contact with the celestial in this state. Yet, we also see that we are still to be conjoined with the spiritual and celestial, though this is when we are in the state of regeneration. Thus, the Lord while He was on earth had possession of all truth before He was instructed with such cognitions. Note, here, that truth becomes conjoined with the Lord's celestial and not with His spiritual because with the celestial there is both the good and the truth. He thus was not only the Truth come on earth (truth made flesh), as He has said, but He was also that Divine Good. In truth, one without the other is nothing. The celestial man of the Most Ancient Church, called Adam, received perception immediately, like Jesus Christ they had perceived from within, from the Divine, and that was 'as it were' reflected upon their natural understanding. Thus, the celestial man could choose to follow or not, and we learn that he did not which resulted in his expulsion from Eden. In this, you can then understand how the Lord upon becoming a man, born into this world, conceived by God, could perceive from the Divine or from His Soul the truth into His understanding and, thus be led by the Divine. The celestial and even the spiritual are within one's soul from the Lord; with the Lord, His Soul is the Divine Itself; with man his soul is divine from the Lord. Therefore, the Lord has implanted the celestial essentials into a man's soul and these are the good and the truth that proceeds from the Lord to man. These, the spiritual and celestial good and truth, have been closed to man because of his sin, for the proprium given to man was distorted by him and, so, he would have harmed the Divine - the goods and truths of the Lord - if he was not separated and thus, expelled from the celestial and the spiritual states of life. The man's natural understanding and will, because it is evil, would destroy that (true or genuine) life in man and mankind would cease. The Divine would be violated. You can see, then, why the Lord protects the person's soul from evil and has shut off from man, any conjunction with the celestial. Thus, all men are in need of salvation and, so, the Church must be reestablished from the Lord in man. For, it is within this new Church that it is established within man and that the man becomes united with the Heavens and associated with angels and is conjoined with the Lord. From our lessons we can see that only the Lord as a natural man could become conjoined with the Divine (this being His glorification) and, thus provide man a way of being conjoined with the Lord and in His Kingdom.
The Lord had to learn as any other person does. Here, we see that what He learned was the knowledge of cognitions just as any other child does (Note: this knowledge of cognitions is inseminated into an infant and a child by the Lord. They are Heavenly or Divine things, though later they are instrumental and serve as a vessel for the things of the celestial and the spiritual, and so the child takes delight in their use). After, the Lord had to learn scientifics, which are the things learned and stored in the memory and which make up a person's intellectual. In this, the celestial was conjoined with His Human and the Lord became the Divine Human. This is just as a man who learns the doctrines of the Church and obeys them and is then brought into his regeneration, though with the Lord He was brought into His glorification.
This story of Abram asking his wife, Sarai, to say to the Egyptians, that she is his sister, when in fact she is his wife points to the fear that the Lord had as a child. His concern was for His desire for these cognitions over the celestial things from the Divine, because they were a delight to Him. These are the things that the Word (the Third Testament) says that the Lord thought about when He was in this state or in His childhood. This fear was expressed in number 1472e of Arcana C&œ;lestia.