9682. 'And you shall put the mercy-seat onto the ark of the Testimony in the holy of holies' means the hearing and reception of all things which in the inmost heaven belong to worship arising from the good of love from the Lord. This is clear from the meaning of 'the mercy-seat' as the hearing and reception of all things that belong to worship arising from the good of love, dealt with in 9506; from the meaning of 'the ark of the Testimony' as the inmost heaven where the Lord is, dealt with in 9485, 'the Testimony' there being the Lord, 9503; and from the meaning of 'the holy of holies' as the place where the good of love from the Lord dwells, dealt with above in 9680. From all these meanings it is evident that 'you shall put the mercy-seat onto the ark of the Testimony in the holy of holies' means the hearing and reception of all things which in the inmost heaven belong to worship arising from the good of love from the Lord.

[2] The nature of the Lord's presence in the inmost heaven, and the nature of His presence in the middle heaven, and also in the lowest, may be recognized from what has been shown in many places regarding the inflow of goodness and truth from the Lord. The Lord becomes present by flowing in, but this inflow is conditioned by what people's life of goodness and truth is like. Those governed by the good of love to the Lord are the ones to receive that inflow the most immediately. Those however who are governed by the good of charity towards the neighbour receive it as well, yet more remotely, because the good of charity towards the neighbour is more remote than the actual good of love to the Lord. As for those who are governed by the good of faith, they too indeed receive it, but according to the amount of good there is within that faith. Consequently people who lead a good life based on the truths of faith receive it; for the Lord resides within their good, since all good springs from Him and none whatever from man, nor from the angels in heaven.

[3] To pursue this matter further, that the Lord is present in heaven and with mankind through heaven, it should be remembered that the Lord is above the heavens, since He is the actual Sun of heaven; yet He is nevertheless present in heaven through the light and heat from that Sun. The light from it is the Divine Truth which is the light of faith, while the heat from it is the Divine Good which is the heat of love; what emanates from the Lord is the Lord Himself. From these considerations it is evident that the Lord is present where good received from Him dwells. But a better understanding of all this may be gained from what has been shown regarding influx, that is to say, where it has been shown that the all of life, thus all good and truth since these constitute life in a person, flows in from the Lord, and that the things which flow in are conditioned by the manner in which each person receives them, 2536, 2706, 2886-2889, 2893, 3001, 3318, 3484, 3742, 3743, 4151, 5846, 5850, 5986, 6053-6058, 6189-6215, 6307-6327, 6466-6495, 6598-6626, 6982, 6985, 6996, 7004, 7055, 7056, 7058, 7147, 7270, 7343, 8321, 8685, 8701, 8717, 8728, 9110, 9111, 9216, and where it has been shown that influx from the Lord comes both directly from Him and also indirectly through the heavens, 5147, 6058, 6063, 6466, 6472, 6473, 6982, 6985, 6996, 7004, 7007, 7055, 7056, 7058, 7270, 8685, 8701, 8717, 8728, 9216.

3743. People however in whom love to the Lord and love towards the neighbour are not present, nor consequently the life of good and truth, are incapable of acknowledging that but one life alone flows in, let alone that this life comes from the Lord. But all such persons are incensed, indeed they are repelled, when told that they do not live of themselves. Self-love is what causes this. And what is amazing, although those people are shown by actual experiences in the next life that they do not live of themselves and at those times say that they are convinced of the truth of it, they nevertheless subsequently cling to their same old opinion and imagine that if they did live from another and not from themselves every joy of their life would melt away - unaware that quite the contrary is the case.

[2] Consequently the evil make evil their own because they do not believe that evils originate in hell; and they are incapable of making good their own because they believe that good begins in themselves and not from the Lord. Even so, the evil, as also those in hell, are recipient forms of life from the Lord, but they are forms such as either reject, or stifle, or pervert what is good and true; and so with them goods and truths, which come with the Lord's life, are turned into evils and falsities. It is like the light of the sun. Although that light is one alone and white it is nevertheless made varied as it strikes different objects, that is, flows into them, producing colours that are beautiful and pleasant, and also those that are hideous and unpleasant.