10130. 'Everyone touching the altar will be sanctified' means whoever receives what is Divine and the Lord's. This is clear from the meaning of 'touching' as an imparting, conveying, and being received, dealt with below; from the meaning of 'the altar' as that which is representative of the Lord in respect of the good of love, at this point in heaven and in the Church, dealt with above in 10129; and from the meaning of 'being sanctified' as receiving what is Divine and the Lord's, also dealt with above, in 10128. The reason why 'touching' means an imparting, conveying, and being received is that a person's inner feelings are expressed by outward means, in particular by touch, and are thereby imparted and conveyed to another; and insofar as the will of the other is in tune and at one with his they are received. Whether you say the will or the love, it amounts to the same thing; for whatever a person loves he likewise wills. From this it also follows that the inner feelings a person has as a result of what he loves and therefore thinks are expressed through touch, and by means of it are imparted and conveyed to another. And insofar as the other loves the person expressing those feelings or loves the things which that person says and does, those feelings are received.

[2] This is especially apparent in the next life, for all people's actions there flow from the heart, that is, from their will or love. They are not allowed to act with gestures separate from their will or love, nor to speak with fraudulent lips, that is, separately from the thoughts of the heart. There it is evident how inner feelings are imparted and conveyed to another by touch, and how the other's reception of them is determined by his own love. Everyone's will or love constitutes the entire person there, and the sphere of life from it flows out from him like breath or an exhalation, envelops him, and constitutes an extension of himself, so to speak, around himself, in a way scarcely different from the emission around plants in the world, which is also detected at a distance through their odours, and also that around animals, which is actually detected by a dog with its keen sense of smell. There is a like emission from every human being, as also a wealth of experience makes known. But when a person lays aside the body and becomes a spirit or an angel that emission or exhalation is not material, as it was in the world; instead it is something spiritual flowing from his love. This love produces a sphere around him, which enables other spirits to detect at a distance what he is like. See what has been shown regarding this sphere in the places referred to in 9606.

[3] Since in their world this sphere is imparted and conveyed to another, and is received by him in accordance with his love, very many wonders occur there which are unknown to people in the world, such as,

1. People's presence with one another is always due to the likeness of their loves, and their absence from one another is always due to unlikeness.

2. All are brought into association with one another on the basis of their loves. Those governed by love to the Lord received from the Lord live in association with one another in the inmost heaven; those governed by love towards the neighbour received from the Lord live in association with one another in the middle heaven; and those governed by the obedience of faith, that is, those who do the truth for its own sake, live in association with one another in the lowest heaven. But those ruled by self-love and love of the world, that is, those who do what they do with selfish and worldly ends in view, live in association with one another in hell.

[4] 3. All turn their eyes towards those they love. Those who love the Lord turn their eyes towards the Lord as the Sun; those who love the neighbour with love received from the Lord turn their eyes towards the Lord as the Moon; and those who do the truth for its own sake act in a similar way. (Regarding the Lord as the Sun and as the Moon, see what has been shown in 1521, 1529-1531, 3636, 3643, 4060, 4321 (end), 5097, 5377, 7078, 7083, 7171, 7173, 8644, 8812.) And what is astonishing, whichever way they face, that is, whichever of the four quarters they turn towards, they still behold the Lord in front of them. The opposite is so with those in hell; the more they are ruled there by self-love and by love of the world, the more they turn from the Lord and have Him behind their back. And again this is so whichever way they face or whichever quarter they turn towards.

[5] 4. When an angel of heaven focuses his attention on others his inner feelings are imparted and conveyed to them, according to the amount and the essential nature of his love; and it is received by them according to the essential nature and the amount of their love. If therefore attention is focused by an angel of heaven on those who are good, it gives rise to gladness and joy; but if it is focused on the evil, it gives rise to pain and torment.

[6] But an imparting, conveying, and being received is also meant by touching with the hand because the whole body's capacity to act is concentrated in the arms and hands, and in the Word interior things are expressed by means of exterior ones. So it is that power is meant by 'the arms', by 'the hands', and especially by 'the right hand', see the places referred to in 10019, and what has been stated in 10023, 10076; and so it is that whatever resides with a person, thus the entire person in his capacity to act, is meant by 'the hands', see the places referred to in 10019. Furthermore all the outward senses of sight, hearing, taste, and smell are connected with touch, being varieties of touch, as is well known in the learned world.

[7] The meaning of 'touching' as an imparting, conveying, and being received is clear from a great number of places in the Word, of which let the following be brought to the fore: In Moses,

You shall anoint the tent of meeting, and the ark of the Testimony, and the table and all its vessels, and the lampstand and its vessels, and the altar of incense, and the altar of burnt offering and all its vessels, and the laver and its pedestal. Thus you shall sanctify them, that they may be the holy of holies. Everyone who touches them will be made holy. Exodus 30:26-29.

In the same author,

Everything that touches the remainder of the minchah and the remainder of the flesh from the sacrifices, which are for Aaron and his sons, will be made holy. Leviticus 6:18, 27.

In Daniel,

The angel touched Daniel ¹ and raised him onto his knees; and he touched his lips and opened his mouth; and again he touched him and strengthened him. Daniel 10:10, 16, 18.

In Isaiah,

One of the seraphim touched my mouth with the burning coal; he said, Behold, this has touched your lips, therefore your iniquity has departed and your sin is expiated. Isaiah 6:7.

In Jeremiah,

Jehovah put out His hand and touched my mouth, and said, I am putting ² My words into your mouth. Jeremiah 1:9.

In Matthew,

Jesus, stretching out a hand to the leper, touched him, saying, I am willing; be clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. Matthew 8:3.

In the same gospel,

Jesus saw Peter's mother-in-law sick with a fever, and He touched her hand, and the fever left her. Matthew 8:14-15.

In the same gospel,

Jesus touched the eyes of the blind, and their eyes were opened. Matthew 9:29-30.

In the same gospel,

Jesus touched the eyes of the two blind men, and immediately they received sight. Matthew 20:34.

In Luke,

Jesus touched the servant's ³ ear and healed [him]. Luke 22:51.

In Mark,

They brought the sick to Jesus, that they might just touch the hem of His clothing; and as many as touched [Him] were made well. Mark 6:56; Matthew 14:36.

In Luke,

A woman suffering from a discharge of blood touched the hem of Jesus' garment; and immediately the flow of blood stopped. Jesus said, Who is it who touched Me? Someone touched Me; I perceived that power had gone out from Me. Luke 8:44-48.

In Mark,

They brought young children to Jesus, that He might touch them. And He took them up in His arms, laid His hands on them, and blessed them. Mark 10:13, 16.

[8] From these quotations it is evident that 'touching' means an imparting, conveying, and being received.

[9] This is similarly evident in places where uncleannesses are the subject, by which evils and falsities that come from the hells are meant in the internal sense, as in Moses,

Whoever touches the dead body of any person ⁴ will be unclean for seven days. Whoever touches a dead body, that of a person who has died ⁵ , and has not expiated himself, defiles Jehovah's dwelling-place; therefore this soul shall be cut off from Israel. Everyone who has touched on the surface of the field one slain with the sword, or one dead, or a human bone, or a sepulchre will be unclean for seven days. Whoever touches the water of separation will be unclean until the evening. Everything that the unclean person has touched will become unclean; and the soul who has touched it will be unclean until the evening. Numbers 19:11, 13, 16, 21-22.

In the same author,

He who touches unclean beasts, unclean creeping things, will be unclean until the evening. Everything onto which [any of them] falls will be unclean; whether it is a wooden vessel, a garment, water, an earthenware vessel, food, drink, an oven, a spring, a cistern, [or] a water-tank, it will be unclean. Leviticus 11:31-36.

The like occurs at Leviticus 5:2-3; 7:21.

In the same book,

[A person] who has a discharge is unclean. A man (vir) who touches that person's bed ..., if he sits on a vessel on which the person has sat ..., whoever touches that person's flesh [or] his garments ..., if someone suffering from a discharge spits on one who is clean ..., a seat ⁶ on which he rides ..., an earthenware vessel ..., a wooden vessel ..., he will be unclean. Leviticus 15:1-end.

So too one who touches a leper, Leviticus 22:4. In the same book,

If any of the carcass falls onto any sowing seed which is sown, it will be clean. But if water is put onto the seed, and the carcass falls onto it, it will be unclean. Leviticus 11:37-38.

[10] By these uncleannesses are meant various kinds of evils and consequent falsities coming from hell, which have been imparted, conveyed, and received. Each particular uncleanness means some specific evil; for evils are what render a person unclean, because they infect his soul. Also the evils in their hearts gush out of evil spirits and genii, and - depending on how convincing the false ideas accompanying evil are - they infect those who are present. This contagious influence is what is meant by touching uncleannesses.

[11] In Moses,

Of the fruit from the tree which is in the middle of the garden you shall not eat, nor shall you touch it, or else you will die. Genesis 3:3.

In the same book,

The angel who wrestled with Jacob, seeing that he did not prevail against him, touched the socket of his thigh, and the socket of the thigh was out of joint. Genesis 32:25.

In the same author,

Moses said that they should not touch anything that belonged to Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, lest they be consumed on account of all their sins. Numbers 16:26.

In Isaiah,

Depart, depart. Do not touch the unclean thing. Go out from the midst of her; be purified, bearers of Jehovah's vessels. Isaiah 52:11.

In Jeremiah,

They went astray blind in the streets, they are defiled with blood. Things which have no power they touch with their garments. Depart; he is unclean. They cry out to them, Depart, do not touch [us]. Lamentations 4:14-15.

In Haggai,

Behold, if a man carries ⁷ holy flesh in the skirt of his garment, and his skirt touches bread, or wine, or oil, or any food whatever, still it will not be made holy. If one who is unclean from a dead body ⁸ touches any of them whatever still he will be unclean. Haggai 2:12-14.

In Hosea,

Perjuring, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery; they commit robbery, and blood touches blood ⁹ . Therefore the land will mourn. Hosea 4:2-3.

Poznámky pod čarou:

10076. 'For it is the ram of fillings [of the hand]' means a representative sign of the Lord's Divine power in the heavens which comes through Divine Truth emanating from His Divine Good, and the transmission and the reception of that Truth there. This is clear from the meaning of 'the ram' as a person internally in respect of the good of innocence and charity within him, dealt with above in 9991, for all beasts serve to mean some human affection or inclination, 9280, which is why people possessing charity and innocence are called sheep and lambs, and 'a ram' therefore, being a male sheep, means the good of charity and innocence in the internal man, or in the highest sense that same good present internally in the Lord's Human (for that which in the internal sense means something truly human, thus something constituting the Church or heaven with a person, in the highest sense means that same virtue present in a matchless degree within the Lord when He was in the world; indeed the subject everywhere in the Word in its inmost sense is the Lord, and this is what gives it its holiness); and from the meaning of 'fillings of the hand' as a representative sign of Divine Truth emanating from the Lord's Divine Good in the heavens, and as the transmission of that Truth to the angels there and their reception of it. For as has been shown previously, just as a person who is being regenerated experiences two states, the first being a time when the truths of faith are being implanted in and joined to the good of love, and the second a time when the good of charity is the source of his actions, so it was in a matchless degree within the Lord. The first state of the glorification of His Human consisted in His making it Divine Truth and joining it to the Divine Good which was within Him and was called the Father, and in His thereby becoming the Divine Good of Divine Love, which is Jehovah. The second state of His glorification was when the Divine Good of Divine Love was the source of what He did, and the Divine Truth emanating from that Good was the means by which He accomplished it.

[2] In the case of a person, in the first state he learns things that must compose his faith, and while he is learning them, under the influence of good, that is, through good from the Lord, so the power of understanding is taking shape in him. When the truths giving shape to the understanding have been implanted in and joined to good he passes into the second state, in which his actions spring from good through the use of truths. From this it is evident what the second state of a person who is being regenerated is like, namely a state in which thought and actions spring from good, or what amounts to the same thing, from love, or what also amounts to the same thing, from the will; for what a person wills he loves, and what he loves he calls good. But a person begins to be in the second state when his entire self from head to toe is the same as his love, and so is the same as his will and his understanding springing from it. Who can ever credit it that the entire person is an image of his will and of his understanding rooted in it, consequently an image of his good and so of his truth, or else an image of his evil and so of his falsity? For good or evil compose the will, and truth or falsity compose the understanding. All angels in heaven are acquainted with this arcanum; but the reason why people in the world are not acquainted with it is that they have no knowledge of their soul, nor consequently any knowledge that the body is shaped so as to be a likeness of it, and therefore that the nature of the entire person is determined by that of his soul. This fact is clearly demonstrated by spirits and angels as seen in the next life. All these are human forms, and the nature of those forms is determined by that of the affections belonging to their love and faith, so much so that anyone in whom the good of love and charity is present may be called an embodiment of love and charity, and on the other hand anyone in whom evils resulting from self-love and love of the world are present, thus in whom hatred and the like are present, may be called an embodiment of hatred.

[3] The same fact is also clearly demonstrated by the three entities present in the whole natural order which flow one from another, namely effect, cause, and end. An effect owes its whole existence to the cause, for an effect is nothing other than the outward manifestation of a cause, because when a cause becomes an effect it clothes itself in things such as exist on external levels, in order that it may manifest itself in a lower sphere, which is the sphere of effects. The situation is similar with the cause of a cause, which in a higher sphere is called the final cause or the end. The end constitutes the all within the cause, making it a cause set to achieve something. For a cause that is not set to achieve something cannot be called a cause, for what other reason is there for its existence? Setting out to achieve something is the end, which is the first thing within the cause and also its last. From this it is evident that the end is so to speak the soul of the cause and so to speak its life, and consequently is also the soul and life of the effect. For if a cause and an effect lack the ability to complete the end in view, none of these has any real existence, because it does not set out to achieve anything, and so is like some dead object devoid of soul and life; and such a thing expires, like a body when the soul departs from it.

[4] The situation is the same with the human being. His actual soul is his will; the attendant cause by means of which his will produces the effect is his understanding; and the effect which is produced resides in the body and so belongs to the body. The truth of this is plainly evident from the consideration that what a person wills, and therefore thinks, fittingly presents itself in an effect within the body, in this way when he speaks, in that way when he acts. From all this it is again evident that what a person's will is like determines what the entire person is like. Whether one speaks of the will, end, love, or good it amounts to the same thing; for everything that a person wills is seen by him to be the end, is loved by him, and is called good. Likewise whether one speaks of the understanding, the cause attending the end, faith, or truth, it again amounts to the same thing; for what a person under the influence of his will understands or thinks he takes to be the cause, believes, and calls the truth. When these things are understood by someone he may know what a person undergoing regeneration is like in his first state, and what he is like in the second.

[5] From all this people may have some idea of how to understand the teaching that when the Lord was in the world and glorified His Human He first made it Divine Truth, and step by step the Divine Good of Divine Love; and that ever after the Divine Good of Divine Love is the source of His acts in heaven and in the world, and of the life He imparts to them, which He accomplishes by means of Divine Truth emanating from the Divine Good of Divine Love of His Divine Human. For from this the heavens have come into being and are constantly coming into being, that is, being held in being; or what amounts to the same thing, from it the heavens have been created and are constantly being created, that is, preserved, for preservation is constant creation, even as being held in being is constant coming into being.

[6] Such considerations are also contained in the following words in John,

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. And the Word became flesh. John 1:1, 3, 14.

'The Word' is Divine Truth. The first state is described by the statement, 'In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God', and the second state by, 'All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made'. The situation was similar when the Lord came into the world, restored the heavens to order, and so to speak created them anew. The Lord is clearly meant by 'the Word' in the above words, for they say that 'the Word became flesh'. The transmission and the perception of Divine Truth emanating from the Divine Good of Divine Love of the Lord's Divine Human is what 'the filling of the hand' means and what the representative acts associated here with the second ram describe.

[7] Since the Lord in respect of Divine Good is represented by Aaron, 9806, the glorification of the Lord's Human is described in a representative manner by the process in which Aaron and his sons were consecrated. The first state of glorification is described by the things stated regarding the sacrifice of the young bull and the burnt offering of the first ram, and the second state of glorification by those stated regarding the second ram, called 'the ram of fillings [of the hand]'. The first state is called the anointing, while the second state is called the filling of the hand. So it was when Aaron and his sons were consecrated to the priesthood by anointing and filling of the hand that they were referred to as 'the anointed' and 'those whose hands he has filled', as in Moses,

The chief priest, on whose head the anointing oil has been poured, and who has filled his hand to wear the garments, shall not shave his head or rip apart the seams of his garments. Leviticus 21:10.

From these things also it is evident that 'the filling of the hand' is a representative sign of the transmission and the reception of Divine Truth emanating from the Lord's Divine Good in the heavens, for it says 'who has filled his hand', not who has had his hand filled. It also says that he has filled his hand 'to wear the garments', for by Aaron and the anointing of him the Lord in respect of Divine Good is represented, and by his garments the same as is represented by 'the filling of the hand', namely Divine Truth emanating from the Lord's Divine Good. For this representation of 'the garments', see 9814. The dispersion of that Truth is meant by 'ripping apart the seams of garments', and the dispersion of Divine Good in the heavens by 'shaving the head'.

[8] Since the inflowing and transmission of Divine Truth from the Lord, and the reception of it in the heavens, is meant by 'the filling of the hand', purification from evils and falsities is also meant by it. For to the extent that man or angel is purified from them he receives Divine Truth from the Lord. 'Filling the hand' is meant in this sense by the following words in Moses,

The sons of Levi struck down from the people three thousand men. And Moses said, Fill your hand today to Jehovah, so that He may bestow a blessing on you today. Exodus 32:28-29.

In the spiritual sense being blessed means being endowed with the good of love and faith, thus receiving what is Divine emanating from the Lord, 2846, 3017, 3406, 4981, 6091, 6099, 8939. The expression 'filling after Jehovah' ¹ is also used in Moses, by which acting in accord with Divine Truth, and thus also the reception of it, is meant,

Another Spirit has been with Caleb, and he has filled after Jehovah. Numbers 14:24; Deuteronomy 1:36.

And in another place,

Jehovah has sworn, saying, Surely none of the men who are twenty years old and over ² will see the land which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, because they have not filled after Me, except Caleb and Joshua, who have filled after Jehovah. Numbers 32:11-12.

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