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Exodus 20

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1 And God said all these words:

2 I am the Lord your God who took you out of the land of Egypt, out of the prison-house.

3 You are to have no other gods but me.

4 You are not to make an image or picture of anything in heaven or on the earth or in the waters under the earth:

5 You may not go down on your faces before them or give them worship: for I, the Lord your God, am a God who will not give his honour to another; and I will send punishment on the children for the wrongdoing of their fathers, to the third and fourth generation of my haters;

6 And I will have mercy through a thousand generations on those who have love for me and keep my laws.

7 You are not to make use of the name of the Lord your God for an evil purpose; whoever takes the Lord's name on his lips for an evil purpose will be judged a sinner by the Lord

8 Keep in memory the Sabbath and let it be a holy day.

9 On six days do all your work:

10 But the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God; on that day you are to do no work, you or your son or your daughter, your man-servant or your woman-servant, your cattle or the man from a strange country who is living among you:

11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and the sea, and everything in them, and he took his rest on the seventh day: for this reason the Lord has given his blessing to the seventh day and made it holy.

12 Give honour to your father and to your mother, so that your life may be long in the land which the Lord your God is giving you.

13 Do not put anyone to death without cause.

14 Do not be false to the married relation.

15 Do not take the property of another.

16 Do not give false witness against your neighbour.

17 Let not your desire be turned to your neighbour's house, or his wife or his man-servant or his woman-servant or his ox or his ass or anything which is his.

18 And all the people were watching the thunderings and the flames and the sound of the horn and the mountain smoking; and when they saw it, they kept far off, shaking with fear.

19 And they said to Moses, To your words we will give ear, but let not the voice of God come to our ears, for fear death may come on us.

20 And Moses said to the people, Have no fear: for God has come to put you to the test, so that fearing him you may be kept from sin.

21 And the people kept their places far off, but Moses went near to the dark cloud where God was.

22 And the Lord said to Moses, Say to the children of Israel, You yourselves have seen that my voice has come to you from heaven

23 Gods of silver and Gods of gold you are not to make for yourselves.

24 Make for me an altar of earth, offering on it your burned offerings and your peace-offerings, your sheep and your oxen: in every place where I have put the memory of my name, I will come to you and give you my blessing.

25 And if you make me an altar of stone do not make it of cut stones: for the touch of an instrument will make it unclean.

26 And do not go up by steps to my altar, for fear that your bodies may be seen uncovered.

   

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Arcana Coelestia # 8818

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8818. 'And they stood at the foot of the mountain' means a long way off from the good of celestial love. This is clear from the meaning of 'Mount Sinai' as heaven, and so as God's good united to Divine Truth there, dealt with in 8805; and from the meaning of 'standing at the foot of it' as a long way off or far away from that good. The meaning here in the internal historical sense is the Israelite nation, which was devoid of the good of celestial love, see above in 8788, 8806, and was therefore a long way off from it, which also accounts for what is said below, in verses 21-22, 24-25, that Moses warned the people and also the priests not to break through the bounds, nor to touch the mountain, and so die. But in the internal sense, which refers to those belonging to the spiritual Church, the meaning of the people's standing at the foot of the mountain is that they were not allowed to go up in arrogant self-confidence to a higher heaven, or if they did they would die, regarding which see 8794, 8797.

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.

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Arcana Coelestia # 8805

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8805. 'And Moses went down from the mountain to the people' means application and preparation by the truth from God, in order that truths may be received within good. This is clear from the meaning of 'going down' - when said of 'Moses', who represents the truth from God - as application and also preparation by that truth; from the representation of 'Moses' as the truth from God, dealt with in 8760, 8787, which also acts as an intermediary, 8787, thus which also prepares and applies; from the meaning of 'the mountain' as the Divine within heaven, thus heaven itself; and from the representation of 'the children of Israel' as those belonging to the spiritual Church, thus those guided by truth through which good comes, and governed by good from which truth springs, at this point good in which truths are to be received. It is important to know what is meant specifically by 'Mount Sinai' in this and subsequent chapters of the Book of Exodus, also what is represented by 'the people Israel', and what by 'Moses' as well.

[2] Specifically Mount Sinai means heaven, out of which truths flow in from the Lord. Consequently 'Jehovah came down onto that mountain' means His presence in heaven. And since heaven - in which Jehovah, that is, the Lord, is present - is meant by 'Mount Sinai', Divine Good united to Divine Truth there is also meant by it; for these are what make it heaven.

[3] But The People Israel beside this mountain represent the spiritual Church in respect of good in which the truths of faith are to be implanted. It has been shown already that those belonging to the spiritual Church pass through two states. The first is when they are led by means of truths to good, and the second state is when they are governed by good and consequently by truths. At this point the state is one when they are governed by good in which truths are to be implanted, which state is an intermediate state that comes between those first and second ones. The truths that are implanted within good are contained in those which were declared by the Lord from Mount Sinai and conveyed by Moses to the people.

[4] Moses in this and subsequent chapters represents the truth from God below heaven joined to God's truth in heaven. He therefore represents the intermediary between the Divine in heaven and the good in which truths are to be implanted, the spiritual Church's good, and so represents the intermediary between the Lord and the people.

It is important to know these things for the understanding of what follows below in the Book of Exodus. All this also shows that 'Moses went down from the mountain to the people' means application and preparation through the truth from God for truths to be received within good.

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.