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Numbers 10

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1 And the Lord said to Moses,

2 Make two silver horns of hammered work, to be used for getting the people together and to give the sign for the moving of the tents.

3 When they are sounded, all the people are to come together to you at the door of the Tent of meeting.

4 If only one of them is sounded, then the chiefs, the heads of the thousands of Israel, are to come to you.

5 When a loud note is sounded, the tents placed on the east side are to go forward.

6 At the sound of a second loud note, the tents on the south side are to go forward: the loud note will be the sign to go forward.

7 But when all the people are to come together, the horn is to be sounded but not loudly.

8 The horns are to be sounded by the sons of Aaron, the priests; this is to be a law for you for ever, from generation to generation.

9 And if you go to war in your land against any who do you wrong, then let the loud note of the horn be sounded; and the Lord your God will keep you in mind and give you salvation from those who are against you.

10 And on days of joy and on your regular feasts and on the first day of every month, let the horns be sounded over your burned offerings and your peace-offerings; and they will put the Lord in mind of you: I am the Lord your God.

11 Now in the second year, on the twentieth day of the second month, the cloud was taken up from over the Tent of witness.

12 And the children of Israel went on their journey out of the waste land of Sinai; and the cloud came to rest in the waste land of Paran.

13 They went forward for the first time on their journey as the Lord had given orders by the hand of Moses.

14 First the flag of the children of Judah went forward with their armies: and at the head of his army was Nahshon, the son of Amminadab.

15 And at the head of the army of the children of Issachar was Nethanel, the son of Zuar.

16 And at the head of the army of the children of Zebulun was Eliab, the son of Helon.

17 Then the House was taken down; and the sons of Gershon and the sons of Merari, who were responsible for moving the House, went forward.

18 Then the flag of the children of Reuben went forward with their armies: and at the head of his army was Elizur, the son of Shedeur.

19 And at the head of the army of the children of Simeon was Shelumiel, the son of Zurishaddai.

20 At the head of the army of the children of Gad was Eliasaph, the son of Reuel.

21 Then the Kohathites went forward with the holy place; the others put up the House ready for their coming.

22 Then the flag of the children of Ephraim went forward with their armies: and at the head of his army was Elishama, the son of Ammihud.

23 At the head of the army of the children of Manasseh was Gamaliel, the son of Pedahzur.

24 At the head of the army of the children of Benjamin was Abidan, the son of Gideoni.

25 And the flag of the children of Dan, whose tents were moved last of all, went forward with their armies: and at the head of his army was Ahiezer, the son of Ammishaddai.

26 At the head of the army of the children of Asher was Pagiel, the son of Ochran.

27 And at the head of the army of the children of Naphtali was Ahira, the son of Enan.

28 This was the order in which the children of Israel were journeying by armies; so they went forward.

29 Then Moses said to Hobab, the son of his father-in-law Reuel the Midianite, We are journeying to that place of which the Lord has said, I will give it to you: so come with us, and it will be for your profit: for the Lord has good things in store for Israel.

30 But he said, I will not go with you, I will go back to the land of my birth and to my relations.

31 And he said, Do not go from us; for you will be eyes for us, guiding us to the right places in the waste land to put up our tents.

32 And if you come with us, we will give you a part in whatever good the Lord does for us.

33 So they went forward three days' journey from the mountain of the Lord; and the ark of the Lord's agreement went three days' journey before them, looking for a resting-place for them;

34 And by day the cloud of the Lord went over them, when they went forward from the place where they had put up their tents.

35 And when the ark went forward Moses said, Come up, O Lord, and let the armies of those who are against you be broken, and let your haters go in flight before you.

36 And when it came to rest, he said, Take rest, O Lord, and give a blessing to the families of Israel.

   

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Arcana Coelestia # 2714

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2714. That 'Paran' means enlightenment coming from the Lord's Divine Human is clear from the meaning of 'Paran' as the Lord's Divine Human, as is evident from those places in the Word where this name is used, as in the prophet Habakkuk,

O Jehovah, I have heard Your fame; I was afraid. O Jehovah, revive Your work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make it known. In zeal You will remember mercy. God will come out of Teman, and the Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah. His fame has covered the heavens, and the earth has been filled with His praise. And His brightness will be as the light; He has horns going out of His hand, and there the hiding-place of His strength will be. Habakkuk 3:2-4.

This plainly refers to the Lord's Coming, which is meant by 'reviving in the midst of the years' and 'making known in the midst of the years'. His Divine Human is described by the words 'God will come out of Teman, and the Holy One from Mount Paran'. He is said to come 'out of Teman' in regard to celestial love, and 'from Mount Paran' in regard to spiritual love; and the springing of these from enlightenment and power is meant by the words 'His brightness will be as the light; He has horns going out of His hand'. 'Brightness' and 'light' mean enlightenment, 'horns' power.

[2] In Moses,

Jehovah came from Sinai, and dawned from Seir upon them; He shone from Mount Paran, and came from myriads of holiness From His right hand came a fiery law for them. He indeed loves the peoples. All His holy ones are in your hand and have been joined together at your feet; and He will receive of your words. Deuteronomy 33:2-3.

This also refers to the Lord, whose Divine Human is described by the words 'He dawned from Seir' and 'He shone from Mount Paran' - 'from Seir' being used in regard to celestial love, 'from Mount Paran' to spiritual love. Those who are spiritual are meant by 'the peoples whom He loves' and by 'those joined together at your feet', 'the foot' meaning that which is lower, and so more obscure, in the Lord's kingdom.

[3] In the same author,

Chedorlaomer and the kings with him smote the Horites in their Mount Seir as far as El-paran, which is over into the wilderness. Genesis 14:5-6.

As regards the Lord's Divine Human being meant there by 'Mount Seir' and by 'El-paran', see 1675, 1676. In the same author,

So it was, in the second year, in the second month, on the twentieth day in the month, that the cloud lifted from over the tabernacle of the testimony. And the children of Israel travelled according to their travels from the wilderness of Sinai, and the cloud settled in the wilderness of Paran. Numbers 10:11-12.

[4] The truth that all the travels of the people in the wilderness mean the state of the Church militant, and its temptations, in which a person goes under but the Lord conquers on his behalf, and the truth that consequently they mean the Lord's own actual temptations and victories, will in the Lord's Divine mercy be shown elsewhere. And because the Lord underwent temptations by reason of His Divine Human, the Lord's Divine Human is in a similar way meant here by 'the wilderness of Paran'. The same is also meant by the following in the same author,

After that the people travelled from Hazeroth, and camped in the wilderness of Paran. And Jehovah spoke to Moses and said, Send men and let them explore the land of Canaan which I am giving to the children of Israel. And Moses sent them from the wilderness of Paran as spoken by the mouth of Jehovah. And they returned to Moses and to Aaron and to all the congregation of the children of Israel, to the wilderness of Paran in Kadesh; and they brought back word to them, and showed them the fruit of the land. Numbers 12:16; 13:1-3, 26.

Their travelling from the wilderness of Paran to explore the land of Canaan means that by means of the Lord's Divine Human these people - the children of Israel, by whom were meant those who are spiritual - have access to the heavenly kingdom, meant by the land of Canaan. But their faltering also at that time means their weakness, on account of which the Lord fulfilled everything in the Law, underwent temptations and was victorious, so that those with whom faith grounded in charity resides, also those who undergo temptations in which the Lord is victorious, have salvation from His Divine Human. This also explains why, when the Lord was tempted, He was in the wilderness, Matthew 4:1; Mark 1:12-13; Luke 4:1; see above in 2708.

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