Arcana Coelestia volume 7 - Swedenborg Foundation

ARCANA COELESTIA 3969himself to good, the two angels from heaven draw near, and thetwo spirits from hell are removed.[2] If therefore when a man betakes himself to evils, as is the casewith many in youth, he feels any anxiety when he reflects upon hishaving done what is evil, it is a sign that he will still receive influxthrough the angels from heaven, and it is also a sign that he willafterward suffer himself to be reformed; but if when he reflectsupon his having done what is evil, he has no anxious feeling, it is asign that he is no longer willing to receive influx through the angelsfrom heaven, and it is also a sign that he will not afterward sufferhimself to be reformed. Here therefore where the truths of theexternal church are treated of, which are represented by the tensons of Jacob, mention is made of the distress of soul in whichJoseph was when alienated from his brethren, and also next thatReuben admonished them, whereby is signified that when this statehad preceded, reformation or the conjunction of the internal withthe external would afterward take place (of which conjunction inthe following pages); for with those who are then in anxiety there isan internal acknowledgment of evil, which when recalled by theLord becomes confession, and finally repentance.5471. When he besought us, and we would not hear. That thissignifies its continual entreaty without reception is evident from thesignification of “beseeching” as being entreaty; for beseeching notto be alienated, when the influx of good from the Divine is treatedof, is an entreaty to be received; because the good which flows infrom the Lord is continually urging and as it were entreating, butits reception rests with the man. Hence it is that beseeching not tobe alienated signifies continual entreaty. From this it follows that“not to hear” signifies not to be received. In the sense of the letter anumber of persons are treated of, as the ten sons of Jacob andJoseph; but in the internal sense these are treated of in one subject.The truths of the external church or in the natural, represented bythe ten sons of Jacob, are the truths in the external man; and thecelestial of the spiritual, represented by Joseph, is truth from theDivine in the internal man. It is similar with other historicals of the