22. 20. (The Lord is described as to the Word appearing above the expanse of the cherubim (Ezekiel 1:26-28), and is called the Lord Jehovih (Ezekiel 2:4; 3:11, 27; 4:14; 5:7-8, 11; 6:3, 11; 7:2, 5; 8:1 seq.). Then he is called the God of Israel (8:4, especially 11:22-23).

I will raise up one shepherd over them, who shall feed them, My servant David. I, Jehovah, will be a God to them, and My servant David a prince in the midst of them. Then will I destroy for them the covenant of peace (Ezekiel 34:23-25).

My servant David shall be king over them, and they all shall have one shepherd. And I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them, and I will set My sanctuary in the midst of them to eternity. Thus shall My habitation be with them; and I will be God to them, moreover they shall be a people to Me (Ezekiel 37:24-25). Throughout the chapter the regeneration of man in the New Church is treated of, for this is meant by the dry bones, and by the two sticks which were one.

In that day will I make a covenant with the beast of the field and with the bird of the heavens, and I will break war from the earth, and make them to lie down securely. And I will betroth thee unto Me for ever, and I will betroth thee unto Me in justice and in judgment and in mercy, and I will betroth thee unto Me in faithfulness, and thou shalt know Jehovah. And it shall be in that day that I will hear the heavens, and they shall hear the earth (Hosea 2:18-21).

I have consecrated their gain, and their wealth unto the Lord of the whole earth (Micah 4:13).

(Thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou art little among the thousands of Judah, out of thee shall one come forth unto Me, that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from the days of eternity. Then shall he stand and feed in the strength of Jehovah, in the excellency of the name of his God; and they shall abide; for now shall he increase unto the ends of the earth (Micah 5:2-4). He will give them until the time, until the remnant of his brethren shall return unto the sons of Israel (verse 2). Concerning the New Church (4:5, seq.).)

9938. 'Which the children of Israel shall sanctify, even in all their gifts of holy things' means acts of worship representative of removal from sins. This is clear from the meaning of 'gifts' - or presents, which among the Israelite and Jewish nation were primarily burnt offerings, sacrifices, and minchahs - as the inner realities of acts of worship; for those realities were represented by these acts. The inner realities of worship are the fruits of love and faith; they are therefore pardonings of sins, that is, removals from them, since faith and love are the means by which the Lord moves sins away. For in the measure that the good of love and faith comes in, or what amounts to the same thing, heaven comes in, sins are removed, that is, hell is removed - the hell within the person as well as the hell outside him. From this it is evident what should be understood by the gifts which they made holy, that is, offered. The gifts were called holy, and giving or offering them was called sanctifying them, because they represented holy realities. For they were offered to expiate people, thus to remove them from their sins, which is accomplished by means of faith in and love to the Lord received from the Lord.

[2] Gifts and presents were said to be made to Jehovah, though Jehovah, that is, the Lord, is not the receiver of gifts or presents, but the giver of them, freely to everyone. Even so, His will is that they should come from a person as though they did so from that person himself, provided the person acknowledges that they do not actually come from him but from the Lord. For the Lord imparts a desire to do good because he loves it, and a desire to speak the truth because he believes it. The actual desire flows in from the Lord, yet appears to be inherent in the person and so to flow from the person. For whatever a person does out of love and desire for it, he does from his life, love being what composes anyone's life. From this it is evident that the things that are called gifts and presents made to the Lord by a person are essentially gifts and presents made to a person by the Lord, and that they are called gifts and presents on account of what they appear to be. All who are wise at heart recognize this appearance, but not so the simple. Yet their gifts and presents are acceptable, so far as they are made in ignorance that has innocence within it. Innocence is the good of love to God, and dwells within ignorance, especially with the wise at heart. Those who are wise at heart know, indeed perceive, that nothing whatever of the wisdom within themselves originates in themselves, but that the all of wisdom is attributable to the Lord, that is, the all of the good of love and the all of the truth of faith are attributable to Him, and that for this reason even with the wise innocence dwells in ignorance. From this it is evident that the acknowledgement of this matter, and especially the perception of it, constitutes the innocence of wisdom.

[3] The gifts offered in the Jewish Church, which were primarily burnt offerings, sacrifices, and minchahs, were also spoken of as offerings made for the expiations of sins; for they were offered for the sake of being pardoned from sins, that is, being removed from them. Those who belonged to that Church also thought that sins were pardoned, indeed completely taken away, by means of these offerings; for it is said of people who have offered them that they will be pardoned, see Leviticus 4:26, 31, 35; 5:6, 10, 13, 16, 18; 6:7; 9:7; 15:15, 30. But they were unaware of the fact that their gifts represented more internal things, thus the kinds of things that are done by a person from love and faith received from the Lord; that these are what expiate, that is, remove sins; and that when they have been removed they appear to have been completely removed or banished, as has been shown above in the present paragraph and the one before it. The worship of that nation was representative, and so was external devoid of anything internal; and it was by means of this worship that heaven was joined to mankind, in those times, see the places referred to in 9320 (end), 9380.