10218. 'They shall give - each one - an expiation for his soul when they are numbered' means purification or deliverance from evil through the acknowledgement and belief that all the truths and forms of the good of faith and love come from the Lord, not at all from man, as does their being arranged in order. This is clear from the meaning of 'giving an expiation for his soul' as being purified or delivered from evil by means of the truth of faith, which here consists in acknowledging that all truths and forms of good come from the Lord; and from the meaning of 'numbering Israel' as their being arranged in order by the Lord alone and not by man. The fact that these things are meant is clear from all that has been stated here about the half shekel which had to be given to Jehovah and about expiation by means of it when the people were being numbered. For 'the shekel of holiness' means truth that is the Lord's alone; 'expiation by means of it' means purification or deliverance from evil, 9506; and 'numbering the children of Israel' means arranging and setting all of the Church's truths and forms of good in order, 10217.
[2] The implications of all this are that numbering the children of Israel was forbidden, because 'numbering' meant arranging and setting in order, and the children of Israel, and the tribes into which they had been divided, meant all the truths and forms of the good of faith and love in their entirety. And since the arrangement and setting of these in order belonged to the Lord alone and not to man, numbering them was a transgression like that committed by those who lay claim to the truths of faith and forms of the good of love as their own and to the arrangement and setting in order of them as their own doing. What these people are like is well known in the Church, for they are those who justify themselves through crediting all matters of faith and love to themselves, and consequently believing that because of the faith they have and the deeds they perform they merit heaven by their own efforts. This bad way of thinking is what David's numbering of the people denoted, spoken of as follows in the second Book of Samuel,
Again the anger of Jehovah flared up in Israel; therefore He moved David against them, saying, Go, number Israel and Judah. Therefore he said to Joab, Go through all the tribes of Israel and number the people, that I may know the number of the people. Joab said to the king, May Jehovah your God add to the people as many as there are already, as many a hundred times over! Yet why does my lord the king desire this thing 1
? But the king's word prevailed against Joab and against the captains of the army. Consequently they went out to number the people Israel. Afterwards David's heart condemned 2
him. Consequently he said to Jehovah, I have sinned greatly [in] what I have done; but nevertheless, O Jehovah, make Your servant's iniquity, I beg you, pass away, for I have done very foolishly. But Gad the prophet was sent to David to choose one bad thing out of three; and he chose the pestilence, from which men died, up to seventy thousand. 2 Samuel 24:1ff.
[3] From all this it is evident how great a sin it was to number Israel. Not that the numbering was in itself a sin; rather, David's numbering of the children of Israel was a sin because, as has been stated, the arrangement and setting in order of all matters of faith and love by self and not by the Lord were meant by it. (The actual numbering meant the arranging and setting in order, while the children of Israel meant all the truths and forms of the good of faith and love.) In order therefore that they might be delivered from sin when a numbering of the children of Israel took place half a shekel was given for expiation; for it says,
They shall give - each one - an expiation for his soul to Jehovah when they are numbered, that there may be no plague among them when they are numbered.
From this it is evident that these words mean purification or deliverance from evil through the acknowledgement that all the truths and forms of the good of faith and love come from the Lord, not at all from man, as does their being arranged in order.
[4] It is also well known in the Church that this is so, that is to say, that all the forms of good and the truths of faith and love come from the Divine and not at all from man. It is well known too that attributing them to oneself is bad, and that those people are delivered from that bad way of thinking who acknowledge and believe that these things come from the Lord; for then they do not lay claim to anything that is Divine or that springs from the Divine. But see what has been shown previously on these matters,
Those who think that the good deeds they perform commence in self and not in the Lord think that they merit heaven, 9974.
Good deeds that commence in self and not in the Lord are not really good, since those who perform good deeds commencing in self do them from a bad motive, 9975, 9980.
They despise the neighbour, and they are irate with God Himself if they do not receive a reward, 9976.
Such people cannot receive heaven into themselves, 9977.
By no means can they fight against the hells; but the Lord fights on behalf of those who acknowledge and believe that all forms of good and all truths come from Him, 9978.
The Lord alone is merit and righteousness, 9486, 9715, 9809, 9979-9984, 10019, 10152.
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