10683. 'For in accordance with these words I make a covenant with you and with Israel' means being joined through these truths to those whose worship is outward and inward. This is clear from the meaning of 'in accordance with these words' as through these leading truths that were to be adhered to, dealt with above in 10682; from the meaning of 'making a covenant' as being joined together, dealt with in 665, 666, 1023, 1038, 1864, 1996, 2003, 2021, 6804, 8767, 8778; from the representation of 'Moses', with whom and with Israel, it is said, a covenant is being made, as the outward form taken by the Word, the Church, and worship, that has what is inward in it, dealt with in 10563, 10571, 10607, 10614; and from the meaning of 'Israel' as the inward aspect of the Church and worship, dealt with in 4286, 4292, 4570, 6426. This explains why the covenant is said to be made with Moses and with Israel. It does not say 'with the children of Israel' because in the present chapter and the previous chapter 'the children of Israel' is used to mean those who are interested in the outward aspect of the Church, worship, and the Word without the inward, see 10454-10457, 10461, 10498, 10549-10551, 10570, 10575, 10629.

[2] A brief statement must be made here of what the inward aspect of the Word, the Church, and worship is; what the outward aspect of these that has the inward within it is; and what the outward aspect devoid of the inward is. The inward aspect of the Word, the Church, and worship is what people adhere to if they love to do the truth for its own sake because of an inward and thus spiritual affection. The outward aspect of these that has the inward within it is what people adhere to if they love truth for its own sake because of an outward and thus natural affection. These are external members of the Church, whereas the former are internal; for in every Church there are internal members and external ones. But people's worship is outward devoid of what is inward if they do not love truth for its own sake but for the sake of gain in the world, thus do not love to do truths except for their own benefit or to be seen by others. These people are not within but outside the Church.

[3] When people who love to do the truth for its own sake because of an inward or spiritual affection hear truths, they rejoice and think about the way to live in accord with them. But when those who love truth for its own sake because of an outward or natural affection hear the truth, they too rejoice but do not think about the way to live in accord with them, though without their awareness an influence from an inner source moves them to lead such a life. Those however who love truth for the sake of gain in the world do not think about the way to live; nor do they receive any influence from an inner source. They do no more than commit truths to memory, to the end that they can talk about them.

[4] Those who love to do truth for its own sake love the Lord; for truth comes from the Lord, and the Lord causes it to become good through the willing and doing of it, thus causes it to become part of a person's life. For truth does not become part of a person's life until it passes into his will. Its presence in his will can be known about from and detected in the fact that he does it, and still more in the fact that he loves to do it; for to the extent that a person wills truth he loves it.

[5] Loving truth for its own sake and for the sake of leading a life in accord with it is described by the Lord in the following way in Matthew,

Whoever welcomes you welcomes Me; but he who welcomes Me welcomes Him who sent Me. Whoever welcomes a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet's reward; and whoever welcomes a righteous person in a righteous person's name will receive a righteous person's reward. Indeed whoever gives one of these little ones a cup of water only in the name of a disciple, truly I say to you, he will not lose his reward. Matthew 10:40-42.

Anyone unacquainted with the internal sense of the Word cannot know what welcoming a prophet in the name of a prophet, a righteous person in a righteous person's name, and the Lord's disciple in the name of a disciple means, nor what the declaration that those who welcome these will receive a reward in keeping with that welcome means. Without the internal sense does anyone know what welcoming another in that person's name means?

[6] But those acquainted with the internal sense pay no attention to the person, only to the reality meant by the person, so that their attention is not focused on a disciple or a prophet but on the realities meant by disciple and prophet. In the internal sense 'disciple' means truth practised in life, but 'prophet' truth upheld by doctrine; and 'in the name of anyone' means on account of his character. From all this it is evident what those words spoken by the Lord mean, namely that those who love truth for its own sake, and those who love to do the truth for its own sake, love the Lord and receive heaven into themselves; for the reward which the Lord imparts is the affection for truth for truth's sake, and the affection for truth for truth's sake holds heaven within it.

[7] By 'disciples' all aspects of love and faith in their entirety are meant, thus in particular those who are led by the Lord, see 3488, 3858(end), 6397.

'Prophet' means truth upheld by doctrine, 2534, 7269.

'Name' means character or essential nature, 144, 145, 1896, 2009, 2724, 6674, 9310.

'Reward' means an affection for truth and good, 3956, 6388.

The idea of a person is converted in the internal sense into that of some reality, 5225, 5287, 5434, 8343, 8985, 9007, 10282.

Doing the truth for its own sake constitutes loving the Lord, 10336.

10614. 'And Jehovah descended in the cloud and stood with him there' means the outward form that the Word takes, in which the Divine is present. This is clear from the meaning of 'the cloud' as the literal and so the outward sense of the Word, dealt with in the Preface to Genesis 18, and 4060, 4391, 5922, 6343(end), 6752, 8106, 8781, 9430, 10574; and from the meaning of 'standing with Moses there', when it refers to what Jehovah did, as the Divine present within it. The reason why Jehovah appeared to Moses in the cloud is that in the present chapter Moses represents the outward form taken by the Word that is receptive of what is inward, see above in 10607; for the Lord appears to everyone in a way suited to the kind of person he is, 6832, 8814, 8819, 9434, 10551.

[2] Something brief must be stated here to explain what an outward form receptive of that which is inward is, and what an outward form unreceptive of that which is inward is. Within the Word there is an outward sense, there is an inward sense, and there is an inmost sense. The nature of the Word in its outward sense is as it is seen to be in the literal statements. This sense is natural because it is suited to what people in the world can grasp, for people here think on a natural level. The Word in its inward sense however is spiritual because it is suited to the understanding of angels in the Lord's spiritual kingdom; for the angels there think on a spiritual level. But the Word in its inmost sense is celestial because it is suited to the perception of angels in the Lord's celestial kingdom; for the angels there think on a level above the spiritual. Since the Word is like this it follows that one exists within another in the same order - the inmost within the inward, and the inward within the outward. As a result of this all things are connected together, and influx takes place in conformity with that connection; and they also derive their ongoing existence one from another. From all this it is evident that the inner things exist in order within what is outward in much the same way as what is prior exists within what is posterior, sequentially, or as the end exists within the cause and the cause within the effect, or - in the case of the human being - as the will exists within thought and thought within speech.

[3] When therefore the character of a person is such that in his own mind he sees the holiness within the external things of the Word, the Church, and worship, then in his case the outward form taken by these contains that which is inward; for that holiness comes from an inward source since it originates in heaven. This outward form is the one that Moses represents. But when the character of a person is such that he sees none of the holiness within the external things of the Word, the Church, and worship, then in his case the outward form is separated from what is inward, as it was with the Israelite nation, see 10396 (end).