Rational Truth:
The First Rational or the Beginning of the Rational in Man
References: Genesis 16: 10-16 and Arcana Coelestia 1938-1965
The First Rational or the Beginning of the Rational in Man
References: Genesis 16: 10-16 and Arcana Coelestia 1938-1965
Before we learn a more detailed explanation of the subject of the Rational Truth within a man and about a man's natural rational that has been not submitted to true Intelligence or to the Spiritual, which is conjoined with Good or with the Celestial in man, we first need to see a general over view of the subject as it relates to the Lord Himself and as it is seen in the Word found in Arcana Coelestia. All doctrine comes from the Lord and is the Lord revealed in the Word. So, the beginning of understanding the Truth is found in the Lord, as He is understood from the written Word. One must first see the Lord and acknowledge Him before he can follow Him, that is, before he can be in the Lord's Love or His good and receive charity. In the subject of the first rational in the Lord as a human on earth and subsequently in a man himself, the truth that we learn is that only the Lord has a True Rational, and that a man has a true rational only from the Lord, and this rational is the Lord within him. For, this rational becomes a man's new interior and the means of communication between the man's internal and his external or where his spiritual becomes conjoined with his natural. In fact, a rational in man from the Lord is necessary in order for a man to become regenerated, that is, to be saved, and so, be conjoined with the Lord and lives in Heaven to eternity.
The Lord, in His Coming to mankind, needed to unite His Divine Celestial and Spiritual with His Natural so as to become the Divine Natural or the Divine Human in order to save mankind. This uniting was done through, first, forming in His Natural a Rational from the Divine within Him. It must be remembered that through a man's understanding and will that the Lord lives within him and that he lives, but that this life became profaned, and thus, the conjunction between man and the Lord was destroyed. In other words, influx coming from the Lord into man was destroyed; the truth within him in time became false, and the good with him became evil, and man's life was changed to what it is today. Thus, the Lord Himself had to put on the human of mankind, and it is in this human that the Lord first conceived the Natural Rational, and that it was born, and was formed. Now, a true Rational has the qualities of both Truth and Good. However, in man now only truth from the Lord could flow into man, and he can either accept or reject this truth since he is left in freedom to do so. If man could see from above, that is, internally or spiritually, he would see that his natural rational is without any good. Like the Lord who was able to do so from His Interior, a man would refuse to follow his natural truths, because within them adhere fallacies and falsities coming from evil which lead him to hell. This, however, is quite impossible with man, because good or love from the Lord has been shut off from him since mankind has turned from the Lord to himself and to his proprium. He sees from his self and believes he knows what is the truth, and he thinks he can do and is good without the Lord and so lives 'as if' from self. It is only the truth within him that can fight the evil assaults, and it is only truth that can overcome evil; good or love cannot be assaulted by the evils, therefore evils cannot be fought and overcome within a man who has no truth. The point is that man needs the Rational Truth in order to fight these natural truths since they have become distorted and profaned and cannot effectively lead him. So, this is why the Lord, who became the Divine Human, can now lead man toward conjunction with Him, and so, man can be in good as well as in truth, which is actually truth coming from good from the Lord who has become the Divine Human. For as said, it is only through truth coming from the Divine Human that evil can be fought and overcome. Thus making it possible for a man to be conjoined again with the Lord, so that he can be made into an image of the Lord and formed after His likeness. Divine Love, unlike Divine truth, could not be approached, just as the Father or the Divine alone cannot be seen or approached by man, therefore a man would not be regenerated (saved) unless the Divine Truth can reside within him together with Divine Good or Divine Love.
The Lord could not come on earth, first in Love, and fight the evils that had infested all of mankind. However, He could come, first in Truth and fight the assaults that come from the evils, which had ruled over all men. It was from the Lord's Interior Man, signified in the Word by Abram, that He could know that His assumed natural from the mother would not allow Divine Love to reign over Him, just as a man's self or proprium wants to rule his life. The natural, that is, the external of man wants to rule the man because the natural is under the reign of his proprium. The proprium of man we know is evil and needs to be defeated and held in subjugation. That is why the Lord had to come on earth. A true Rational must be given to man from the Lord so that man would become conjoined with the Lord and dwell in Heaven to eternity. It is not the man's own ability to reason that is the true Rational from the Lord in him, for the Word tells us that many evil men can reason, even above others who have turned to the Lord.
Genuine Truth comes to a man only through the rational, and only when it is from the Lord. However, the purpose or the use of natural truth determines the quality of the rational formed in a man from the Lord. Now a life of charity is insinuated into man into his interior, and as truth fights against the fallacies within his natural mind, the rational from the Lord is formed in him and his proprium is held in subjugation. The purpose for the rational is to see, that is, to understand and to will from the Lord in man in a new will and understanding and to identify the evils and falsities within himself. For a man cannot see or know from himself what is good and true, but only from his interior or rational, which is the Lord within him, and this is what makes a man different from animals. And, thus, can a man be led into Heaven.
While man is here on earth he will have combats and temptations, but only when he follows or obeys the Truth because he is in the natural degree of life and because evils and falsities are within from hell. It is this truth that fights the hells; such truths are from the Lord, and as their use is realized, a man receives charity and, so, he is then led in regeneration. That regeneration continues to eternity, even after he comes into Heaven. There, the Lord's love and wisdom with him becomes fruitful and multiplies beyond measure. Here on earth its development is only according to the subjugation of evils within his natural self. Still truth can be multiplied and good become fruitful in him.
A man's first rational or rational truth is not the true Rational, but it can become the true Rational as the Lord's Charity and Goodness is insinuated and conjoined with the Truths therein. For Rational Truth and Rational Good, unless conjoined, are not from the Lord nor is the Lord with the man in Power. A man's life from the Lord is from obedience to the truths that come from good and is not from one's truth alone. The first rational in man leads to truth conjoined with the good from the Lord and it is through the man's internal or his spirit thus forming a true Rational in him which, as said, conjoins his spiritual life with his natural life. The true Rational of the Lord united His Spiritual and Celestial with His Natural, and thus is the Divine Rational.
And the Angel of Jehovah said unto her, Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a
The verse here in Genesis is primarily again speaking of the Lord while He was here on earth. The thoughts from the Divine, from the Father, flowed into His Rational. The truth He received is that He would have a true life in His rational from the Divine within Him. Remember that mankind had been 'cut off' from his spiritual and celestial life and truth and good within became in time with him false and evil. So, this is also the beginning of a new life in man. Thus the words, "You must be born again" (John 3-16) takes on new meaning. There is to be a new life from the Lord. The Lord saw that His human from mankind was opposed to truths and goods coming from the Divine, and if such natural love was not removed from Him and subjugated, it would, in time, overcome and continue to rule His natural, and man could not be led to Heaven. Here it is that the Word teaches that man can perceive, and he can become sensible to the evils within him and learn that what he thinks from self is false. The essential truth taught here is that man must not only know the truth, but that he needs to be a doer of truth, and thus truth must come from a new will to do good for the sake of good or for the Lord. The first evidence of a rational from the Lord in man is that truth in him is conceived or implanted by the Lord, then Rational Truth is born within him from the Lord; that is, truth in him becomes alive. The state of such a man is changed. Note here, that the influx of truth from the Lord is not without affection, that is, without the good of life. Because the Lord loved the Natural Truth, which was signified by Hagar, He had to submit Himself as a human like man to His Interior, which we have said was the Divine Truth from Good and is the Intelligence or the Spiritual of the Lord. He had to humble and to afflict Himself under the dominance of His Interior man, the Will of His Father, which is signified by Abram. Arcana Coelestia 1947 refers to compelling oneself. This is, also, the only way that a man can be regenerated, which is, when he receives this truth from the Lord he then receives a Heavenly proprium. This affection is a man's humbling, and is his exercising self compulsion, and is the shunning of the love of self and all his worldly desires (Cf. AC 1942-1947).
And he shall be a wild-ass man; his hand against all, and the hand of all against
Rational truth in man is truth from the Lord, for natural truth cannot fight or wage war effectively against evil, nor can it become victorious over falsities. Rational Truth continually is in contention with matters of faith within the natural man, but because it is from the Lord there is victory, falsities, and evils are conquered when a man submits and obeys. It is not faith or truth alone that conquers, but love or charity together in Truth that does, which is insinuated into man's understanding by his obedience to the truth.
The character of Rational Truth here described is Rational Truth without Rational Good. Who, and how can it be seen that such truth with a man is of such a character? First, it is only the man who submits himself to the Truth and who does the will of the Lord who can see and who learns the truth that is of such a character, and that he himself is without a True Rational from the Lord. In such a man the Lord can form His New Church. The true Rational is formed in him by submitting himself to live and to experience life from the Lord day by day.
What is here meant by that truth that is separated from good? First, it is not the man himself that is meant or indicated, because even the Lord Himself had perceived what the Rational Truth would be like in His assumed natural from mankind. He saw that Rational Truth without Good in Himself would be like the description of a "wild-ass" that would not live except, so to speak, in the desert. No, it is the characteristic of truth, not of a man that is here represented. Truth cannot bear what is false or any lies; it fights against all falsities; it wants to correct what is wrong. It is not gentle and soft, but is hard, and is like a sword cutting out evils within a man's life. Truth is necessary in the natural world, for love or charity without truth cannot be known or learned. Truth is the form of love; love is its essence or life and together it is a life coming from the Lord into the Rational of a man. This state of truth in a man's life is useful because a true Rational from the Lord is formed within and both the good and the truth, then, become that new Rational in him (Cf. AC 1948-1951).
And she called the name of Jehovah who was speaking unto her, Thou God seest me;
This being so, then, when Rational Truth enters, becoming the first rational, it is first led by the natural will and not by the Lord or by the Divine. Thus, a man is blind to genuine truth. He cannot see what is the truth except it comes from the Lord through his internal. Our true sight is from the Lord. What is here taught is that there is a continual influx from the Lord into man, but that man sees the truth 'as if' from him self. This is what is called an 'apparent truth', for what he believes to be the truth are only what truth appears like in the natural world, and are often fallacies and falsities, and this because he sees through the natural senses and not from within from the Lord. When the Lord first perceived from His Interior He acknowledged from His natural life an affection of knowledge coming from His Exterior and not from His inherited proprium. Thus, He does not will as man does, for the first Rational or Rational Truth alone could never see the fallacies within itself, but when good is insinuated through truth then there is perception. Here, we need to remember that the Lord already had a Celestial and a Spiritual, so when He was in the Natural He had perception and could see from within from the Divine within Him. As the Word in Genesis 16:14 shows, the Lord's External or Natural called such knowledge a "Fountain" or the "Truth", because from this Truth He could see that Truth alone in man would not be good. Good had to be within the Truth in order for eternal life to be in man.
The Lord saw the quality of the Rational Truth in man without good as being in contention with a man's natural truths. In other words, because of the appearance of truth in the natural sense there will be contentions about what is really or truly meant in the Word. We may have such contentions within ourselves, wondering what is the real or genuine Truth. Such contentions were the battles that the Lord Himself fought the evils that we ourselves could never overcome because we distort truths coming to us through our natural senses. However, influx from the Lord can flow into our internal and from there into our interior, forming a new rational, which enables the Spiritual from the Lord to be conjoined with our natural life. Such influx, because from the Divine Human, has not only truth, but this truth comes from what is good. When truths are obeyed, because they are true, and when good is done, which is taught by the truths, because they are good, then a new rational is formed within man from the Lord. He now thinks from the Lord, though he does not know such is the case or he is not yet aware of it, unless he has learned it from the Word of the Divine Human, the Third Testament (Cf. AC 1952-1958).
And Hagar bare Abram a son; and Abram called the name of his son that Hagar
(Genesis 16:15)
The significance of this verse is that the Rational was born in the Lord. This is evident from the conception of the seed or the truth of faith within His Natural that forms the first Rational Truth coming from His Internal, that is, the Divine and so is conjoined with His Natural affection of knowledge as it is represented by Hagar. The Natural love is the love of scientifics of spiritual things in order to know and to learn from the Natural of the Lord. From such a conception and conjunction the Rational Truth as described by Ishmael as that of becoming as a 'wild-ass man' is born in the Lord's human. The quality of such Rational Truth was already been described.
From these qualities of truth that is without any good it can be now understood that the Lord suffered greatly, and went through terrible afflictions. He did so because of His love for mankind. Here, it is obvious that He suffered more than just death on the cross. For His suffering was deep within in His very Life and Soul. Although a man must also compel himself, and afflict himself, as did the Lord, it is little as compared to the Lord's afflictions. Still, those who do, often find themselves being criticized as a man without love and as being 'against . . . all his brethren' as we see Ishmael was. (Genesis 12: 16) (Cf. AC 1959-1961)
And Abram was a man of eighty years and six years, when Hagar bare Ishmael to Abram.
(Genesis 16:16)
Here is revealed the state in which the Lord was when He received in His Human the first or Rational Truth from His Internal, that is, from the Father or Divine within. This state was a state of temptations and combats. In order to unite His Human Essence with His Divine Essence He went through temptations and combats. He fought against natural truths, which was with Him from His mother. We learn, here, that the good that He had acquired through combats of temptations were the remains of celestial acquisitions. These were with Him from the Divine, His Father. Into man such goods are insinuated by the Lord, the Divine Human, mainly through the parents when as an infant and a child. These are truths coming from good and they become united to Rational Truth as they are believed and obeyed.
What is revealed to man in this verse is that the Lord does not 'as if' by magic, because of His Coming and His death for mankind, save man. A Rational must first be conceived and then be born or formed within him. This, a man does by learning and by acknowledging the scientifics and the cognitions, which are of religious truths concerning the Lord, His Church, Heaven, and man. They are the Commandments that are to be obeyed. They teach what is to be shunned as sins against the Lord. The purpose for such learning and acknowledging is because this knowledge has a use, which is of life, its end being eternal life where man is conjoined with the Lord in Heaven.
One cannot truly love the Lord or the neighbor from his own love. The truth he needs is genuine truth, spiritual truth, and not natural truth. He needs a new understanding and will. The good he does must be through the celestial from the Lord, not from his old natural will. He must receive a new will from the Lord. The only way he does this is through a Rational that is received from the Lord. Thus, when a Rational in formed in man, he is capable of perceiving all things in the Lord's Kingdom. His life changes, and like the angels, he is in intelligence itself, and in wisdom itself, and the Lord is in him and he in the Lord.
End
The Lord, in His Coming to mankind, needed to unite His Divine Celestial and Spiritual with His Natural so as to become the Divine Natural or the Divine Human in order to save mankind. This uniting was done through, first, forming in His Natural a Rational from the Divine within Him. It must be remembered that through a man's understanding and will that the Lord lives within him and that he lives, but that this life became profaned, and thus, the conjunction between man and the Lord was destroyed. In other words, influx coming from the Lord into man was destroyed; the truth within him in time became false, and the good with him became evil, and man's life was changed to what it is today. Thus, the Lord Himself had to put on the human of mankind, and it is in this human that the Lord first conceived the Natural Rational, and that it was born, and was formed. Now, a true Rational has the qualities of both Truth and Good. However, in man now only truth from the Lord could flow into man, and he can either accept or reject this truth since he is left in freedom to do so. If man could see from above, that is, internally or spiritually, he would see that his natural rational is without any good. Like the Lord who was able to do so from His Interior, a man would refuse to follow his natural truths, because within them adhere fallacies and falsities coming from evil which lead him to hell. This, however, is quite impossible with man, because good or love from the Lord has been shut off from him since mankind has turned from the Lord to himself and to his proprium. He sees from his self and believes he knows what is the truth, and he thinks he can do and is good without the Lord and so lives 'as if' from self. It is only the truth within him that can fight the evil assaults, and it is only truth that can overcome evil; good or love cannot be assaulted by the evils, therefore evils cannot be fought and overcome within a man who has no truth. The point is that man needs the Rational Truth in order to fight these natural truths since they have become distorted and profaned and cannot effectively lead him. So, this is why the Lord, who became the Divine Human, can now lead man toward conjunction with Him, and so, man can be in good as well as in truth, which is actually truth coming from good from the Lord who has become the Divine Human. For as said, it is only through truth coming from the Divine Human that evil can be fought and overcome. Thus making it possible for a man to be conjoined again with the Lord, so that he can be made into an image of the Lord and formed after His likeness. Divine Love, unlike Divine truth, could not be approached, just as the Father or the Divine alone cannot be seen or approached by man, therefore a man would not be regenerated (saved) unless the Divine Truth can reside within him together with Divine Good or Divine Love.
The Lord could not come on earth, first in Love, and fight the evils that had infested all of mankind. However, He could come, first in Truth and fight the assaults that come from the evils, which had ruled over all men. It was from the Lord's Interior Man, signified in the Word by Abram, that He could know that His assumed natural from the mother would not allow Divine Love to reign over Him, just as a man's self or proprium wants to rule his life. The natural, that is, the external of man wants to rule the man because the natural is under the reign of his proprium. The proprium of man we know is evil and needs to be defeated and held in subjugation. That is why the Lord had to come on earth. A true Rational must be given to man from the Lord so that man would become conjoined with the Lord and dwell in Heaven to eternity. It is not the man's own ability to reason that is the true Rational from the Lord in him, for the Word tells us that many evil men can reason, even above others who have turned to the Lord.
Genuine Truth comes to a man only through the rational, and only when it is from the Lord. However, the purpose or the use of natural truth determines the quality of the rational formed in a man from the Lord. Now a life of charity is insinuated into man into his interior, and as truth fights against the fallacies within his natural mind, the rational from the Lord is formed in him and his proprium is held in subjugation. The purpose for the rational is to see, that is, to understand and to will from the Lord in man in a new will and understanding and to identify the evils and falsities within himself. For a man cannot see or know from himself what is good and true, but only from his interior or rational, which is the Lord within him, and this is what makes a man different from animals. And, thus, can a man be led into Heaven.
While man is here on earth he will have combats and temptations, but only when he follows or obeys the Truth because he is in the natural degree of life and because evils and falsities are within from hell. It is this truth that fights the hells; such truths are from the Lord, and as their use is realized, a man receives charity and, so, he is then led in regeneration. That regeneration continues to eternity, even after he comes into Heaven. There, the Lord's love and wisdom with him becomes fruitful and multiplies beyond measure. Here on earth its development is only according to the subjugation of evils within his natural self. Still truth can be multiplied and good become fruitful in him.
A man's first rational or rational truth is not the true Rational, but it can become the true Rational as the Lord's Charity and Goodness is insinuated and conjoined with the Truths therein. For Rational Truth and Rational Good, unless conjoined, are not from the Lord nor is the Lord with the man in Power. A man's life from the Lord is from obedience to the truths that come from good and is not from one's truth alone. The first rational in man leads to truth conjoined with the good from the Lord and it is through the man's internal or his spirit thus forming a true Rational in him which, as said, conjoins his spiritual life with his natural life. The true Rational of the Lord united His Spiritual and Celestial with His Natural, and thus is the Divine Rational.
- And the Angel of the Lord said unto her, In multiplying I will multiply they seed,
and it shall not be numbered for multitude (Genesis 16: 10).
And the Angel of Jehovah said unto her, Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a
- son, and thou shalt call his name Ishmael; because Jehovah hath hearkened to thine
affliction.
The verse here in Genesis is primarily again speaking of the Lord while He was here on earth. The thoughts from the Divine, from the Father, flowed into His Rational. The truth He received is that He would have a true life in His rational from the Divine within Him. Remember that mankind had been 'cut off' from his spiritual and celestial life and truth and good within became in time with him false and evil. So, this is also the beginning of a new life in man. Thus the words, "You must be born again" (John 3-16) takes on new meaning. There is to be a new life from the Lord. The Lord saw that His human from mankind was opposed to truths and goods coming from the Divine, and if such natural love was not removed from Him and subjugated, it would, in time, overcome and continue to rule His natural, and man could not be led to Heaven. Here it is that the Word teaches that man can perceive, and he can become sensible to the evils within him and learn that what he thinks from self is false. The essential truth taught here is that man must not only know the truth, but that he needs to be a doer of truth, and thus truth must come from a new will to do good for the sake of good or for the Lord. The first evidence of a rational from the Lord in man is that truth in him is conceived or implanted by the Lord, then Rational Truth is born within him from the Lord; that is, truth in him becomes alive. The state of such a man is changed. Note here, that the influx of truth from the Lord is not without affection, that is, without the good of life. Because the Lord loved the Natural Truth, which was signified by Hagar, He had to submit Himself as a human like man to His Interior, which we have said was the Divine Truth from Good and is the Intelligence or the Spiritual of the Lord. He had to humble and to afflict Himself under the dominance of His Interior man, the Will of His Father, which is signified by Abram. Arcana Coelestia 1947 refers to compelling oneself. This is, also, the only way that a man can be regenerated, which is, when he receives this truth from the Lord he then receives a Heavenly proprium. This affection is a man's humbling, and is his exercising self compulsion, and is the shunning of the love of self and all his worldly desires (Cf. AC 1942-1947).
And he shall be a wild-ass man; his hand against all, and the hand of all against
- him; and he shall dwell against the faces of all his brethren
Rational truth in man is truth from the Lord, for natural truth cannot fight or wage war effectively against evil, nor can it become victorious over falsities. Rational Truth continually is in contention with matters of faith within the natural man, but because it is from the Lord there is victory, falsities, and evils are conquered when a man submits and obeys. It is not faith or truth alone that conquers, but love or charity together in Truth that does, which is insinuated into man's understanding by his obedience to the truth.
The character of Rational Truth here described is Rational Truth without Rational Good. Who, and how can it be seen that such truth with a man is of such a character? First, it is only the man who submits himself to the Truth and who does the will of the Lord who can see and who learns the truth that is of such a character, and that he himself is without a True Rational from the Lord. In such a man the Lord can form His New Church. The true Rational is formed in him by submitting himself to live and to experience life from the Lord day by day.
What is here meant by that truth that is separated from good? First, it is not the man himself that is meant or indicated, because even the Lord Himself had perceived what the Rational Truth would be like in His assumed natural from mankind. He saw that Rational Truth without Good in Himself would be like the description of a "wild-ass" that would not live except, so to speak, in the desert. No, it is the characteristic of truth, not of a man that is here represented. Truth cannot bear what is false or any lies; it fights against all falsities; it wants to correct what is wrong. It is not gentle and soft, but is hard, and is like a sword cutting out evils within a man's life. Truth is necessary in the natural world, for love or charity without truth cannot be known or learned. Truth is the form of love; love is its essence or life and together it is a life coming from the Lord into the Rational of a man. This state of truth in a man's life is useful because a true Rational from the Lord is formed within and both the good and the truth, then, become that new Rational in him (Cf. AC 1948-1951).
And she called the name of Jehovah who was speaking unto her, Thou God seest me;
- for she said, Have I also here seen after Him that seeth me? Therefore, she called
the fountain, The fountain of the Living One who seeth me; behold it is between
Kadesh and Bared.
- (Genesis 16: 13, 14)
This being so, then, when Rational Truth enters, becoming the first rational, it is first led by the natural will and not by the Lord or by the Divine. Thus, a man is blind to genuine truth. He cannot see what is the truth except it comes from the Lord through his internal. Our true sight is from the Lord. What is here taught is that there is a continual influx from the Lord into man, but that man sees the truth 'as if' from him self. This is what is called an 'apparent truth', for what he believes to be the truth are only what truth appears like in the natural world, and are often fallacies and falsities, and this because he sees through the natural senses and not from within from the Lord. When the Lord first perceived from His Interior He acknowledged from His natural life an affection of knowledge coming from His Exterior and not from His inherited proprium. Thus, He does not will as man does, for the first Rational or Rational Truth alone could never see the fallacies within itself, but when good is insinuated through truth then there is perception. Here, we need to remember that the Lord already had a Celestial and a Spiritual, so when He was in the Natural He had perception and could see from within from the Divine within Him. As the Word in Genesis 16:14 shows, the Lord's External or Natural called such knowledge a "Fountain" or the "Truth", because from this Truth He could see that Truth alone in man would not be good. Good had to be within the Truth in order for eternal life to be in man.
The Lord saw the quality of the Rational Truth in man without good as being in contention with a man's natural truths. In other words, because of the appearance of truth in the natural sense there will be contentions about what is really or truly meant in the Word. We may have such contentions within ourselves, wondering what is the real or genuine Truth. Such contentions were the battles that the Lord Himself fought the evils that we ourselves could never overcome because we distort truths coming to us through our natural senses. However, influx from the Lord can flow into our internal and from there into our interior, forming a new rational, which enables the Spiritual from the Lord to be conjoined with our natural life. Such influx, because from the Divine Human, has not only truth, but this truth comes from what is good. When truths are obeyed, because they are true, and when good is done, which is taught by the truths, because they are good, then a new rational is formed within man from the Lord. He now thinks from the Lord, though he does not know such is the case or he is not yet aware of it, unless he has learned it from the Word of the Divine Human, the Third Testament (Cf. AC 1952-1958).
And Hagar bare Abram a son; and Abram called the name of his son that Hagar
- bare, Ishmael
(Genesis 16:15)
The significance of this verse is that the Rational was born in the Lord. This is evident from the conception of the seed or the truth of faith within His Natural that forms the first Rational Truth coming from His Internal, that is, the Divine and so is conjoined with His Natural affection of knowledge as it is represented by Hagar. The Natural love is the love of scientifics of spiritual things in order to know and to learn from the Natural of the Lord. From such a conception and conjunction the Rational Truth as described by Ishmael as that of becoming as a 'wild-ass man' is born in the Lord's human. The quality of such Rational Truth was already been described.
From these qualities of truth that is without any good it can be now understood that the Lord suffered greatly, and went through terrible afflictions. He did so because of His love for mankind. Here, it is obvious that He suffered more than just death on the cross. For His suffering was deep within in His very Life and Soul. Although a man must also compel himself, and afflict himself, as did the Lord, it is little as compared to the Lord's afflictions. Still, those who do, often find themselves being criticized as a man without love and as being 'against . . . all his brethren' as we see Ishmael was. (Genesis 12: 16) (Cf. AC 1959-1961)
And Abram was a man of eighty years and six years, when Hagar bare Ishmael to Abram.
(Genesis 16:16)
Here is revealed the state in which the Lord was when He received in His Human the first or Rational Truth from His Internal, that is, from the Father or Divine within. This state was a state of temptations and combats. In order to unite His Human Essence with His Divine Essence He went through temptations and combats. He fought against natural truths, which was with Him from His mother. We learn, here, that the good that He had acquired through combats of temptations were the remains of celestial acquisitions. These were with Him from the Divine, His Father. Into man such goods are insinuated by the Lord, the Divine Human, mainly through the parents when as an infant and a child. These are truths coming from good and they become united to Rational Truth as they are believed and obeyed.
What is revealed to man in this verse is that the Lord does not 'as if' by magic, because of His Coming and His death for mankind, save man. A Rational must first be conceived and then be born or formed within him. This, a man does by learning and by acknowledging the scientifics and the cognitions, which are of religious truths concerning the Lord, His Church, Heaven, and man. They are the Commandments that are to be obeyed. They teach what is to be shunned as sins against the Lord. The purpose for such learning and acknowledging is because this knowledge has a use, which is of life, its end being eternal life where man is conjoined with the Lord in Heaven.
One cannot truly love the Lord or the neighbor from his own love. The truth he needs is genuine truth, spiritual truth, and not natural truth. He needs a new understanding and will. The good he does must be through the celestial from the Lord, not from his old natural will. He must receive a new will from the Lord. The only way he does this is through a Rational that is received from the Lord. Thus, when a Rational in formed in man, he is capable of perceiving all things in the Lord's Kingdom. His life changes, and like the angels, he is in intelligence itself, and in wisdom itself, and the Lord is in him and he in the Lord.
End
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