920. 本节总体上描述了古教会的敬拜, “祭坛和燔祭” 就是用来敬拜的, 它们是一切代表性敬拜的主要特征. 然而, 首先必须提一下上古教会敬拜的性质, 由此表明通过代表敬拜主是如何兴起的. 上古教会成员只有内在的敬拜, 诸如天堂里的那种. 对他们来说, 天堂与人密切交流, 以致他们成为一体. 这种交流就是直觉, 前面频繁提过到这种直觉. 因此, 他们是天使般的人, 故而是内在人. 虽然他们能感觉到属肉体和尘世的外在事物, 但他们并不理会. 在每一个感觉的对象中, 他们都能直觉到某种神性和天堂之物. 例如, 当看到高山时, 他们直觉到的, 不是山的概念, 而是高的概念, 并通过高直觉天堂和主的概念. 经上说主居于至高之处, 并且祂本人被称为 “至高至上者” 便由此而来; 后来对主的敬拜在山上进行也是从这里来的. 其它事也一样, 如当观察早晨时, 他们并不直觉从时间上开始一天的早晨, 而是直觉人心智中的天堂之物, 它就象早晨和黎明. 这就是为何主被称为早晨, 东方和黎明的原因. 同样, 当看到一棵树及其果实, 叶子时, 他们并不理会这些事物本身, 而是仿佛看到它们里面所表现的人, 在果实里面看到爱和仁, 在叶子里面看到信. 因此, 这个教会成员不但被比作一棵树, 一个乐园, 他里面的东西被比作果实和叶子, 而且他甚至被如此称呼. 这就是具有属天和天使般的观念之人的品性.

人皆知, 总的观念主导一切细节, 因而主导一切感官对象, 无论是看到的还是听到的. 事实上, 这类物体不会被留意到, 除非它们流入人的总体观念. 因此, 对开心的人来说, 他所听到, 看到的一切似乎都在欢声笑语; 而对忧伤的人来说, 他所看到, 听到的一切似乎都在悲伤忧郁. 其他类型的人也一样, 因为总的情感就存在于一切细节中, 并使它们在总情感中被看到, 听到, 而所有其它事物甚至不显现, 仿佛不存在或无关紧要. 上古教会成员的情况是这样: 目之所及在他看来都似天堂一般, 因此, 对他来说, 一切事物似乎都是活的. 这表明上古教会神圣敬拜的性质, 即它是内在的, 根本不是外在的.

然而, 当教会衰落, 如在其后代中的情形, 这种直觉力或与天堂的交流开始丧失时, 另一种状态开始出现了. 这时, 他们在感官对象中不再象以前那样能直觉任何天堂之物, 而只是直觉世俗之物. 他们越是直觉世俗之物, 其直觉力就越丧失. 最终, 在洪水前的最后一代, 他们在这类物体中只能直觉世俗, 肉体和尘世之物. 天堂就这样与人类分离了, 他们只能以极其遥远的方式与天堂交流. 这时, 与地狱的交流向人开放, 他由此获得其总的观念, 一切细节观念皆源于这总的观念, 如前所述. 在这种情况下, 当有天堂观念临到他们时, 他们视若无物, 以致最终甚至不愿承认属灵和属天之物的存在. 人的状态就这样被改变和颠倒.

由于主预见人类的状态会变成这样, 所以祂为保存信的教义事物做好准备, 以便人们可以知道属天和属灵之物. 前面所论述的那些被称为 “该隐” 和 “以诺” 之人通过上古教会成员将这些教义事物搜集起来. 因此, 经上论到该隐说, 他身上被立了一个记号, 免得人杀他 (参看创世记 4:15, 393, 394节), 论到以诺说, 神将他取去 (创世记 5:24). 这些教义事物仅在于有意义, 因而看似神秘之物. 也就是说, 它们仅在于地面上各种具有属灵意义的物体, 诸如高山, 它们表天上之物和主; 早晨和东方, 它们也表天上之物和主; 各种树及其果实, 它们表人及其天堂之物等等. 他们的教义事物就在于诸如这类的事物, 所有这些都通过上古教会有意义的符号被搜集起来. 他们的著作也因此具有这种性质. 由于他们对这类教义事物惊叹不已, 似乎觉得能领悟到其中的神性和天堂之物, 也由于相同的古老风俗习惯, 他们开始并被允许通过类似这样的事物进行敬拜. 这就是他们在山上, 小树林, 树丛中间敬拜的起源, 也是他们露天的柱子或雕像, 以及最后的祭坛和燔祭的起源, 后来, 祭坛和燔祭成了一切敬拜的主要特征. 这种敬拜始于古教会, 并由此传给他们的后代和周边所有国家. 关于这些以及很多其它事物, 蒙主慈悲, 容后再述.

10057. 'And you shall take the second ram' means the following state, which is that of Divine Truth emanating from the Lord's Divine Good in the heavens. This is clear from the things described in what has gone before and in what comes after. Those in what has gone before have to do with the sacrifice of the young bull and the burnt offering of the first ram, those in what comes after with the second ram and 'filling the hand with it', and finally with the sacrifice of a young bull and the daily burnt offering of lambs. Is there anyone at all rational in his thinking who does not see that these things in every detail have heavenly arcana lying within them? What other explanation could there be for the sacrifices and burnt offerings with so many ritual requirements? Why else was it necessary that the altar should be flooded with blood; that blood should be put on the tip of the ear, on the thumb, and on the big toe of Aaron and his sons, and also [sprinkled] over their garments; that in the case of the sacrifice the fat on the intestines, liver, and kidneys, and the kidneys themselves, should be burned on the altar (and all other parts burned with fire outside the camp, or else be eaten), and that in the case of the burnt offering the intestines and legs should be placed on top of the pieces and the head and burned on the altar; and also that the parts which were taken from the second ram should first be waved on the palms of Aaron and his sons, and that the other parts of it should be eaten? Let anyone who is willing to do so ask himself, Would not such requirements be earthly matters of no importance at all if they did not hold holy arcana within them? And if they are holy arcana, they must be altogether such as have to do with heaven and the Church, and in the highest sense such as have to do with the Lord; for these alone, being Divine, are holy. If people believe that the Word is holy and has been inspired by God in every single part, they must also believe that every single established practice in the sacrifices and burnt offerings embraces and contains such arcana within it. Yet what it is that those practices embrace and contain within them cannot by any means be known on earth unless it is known what is meant in heaven by such things. What is meant, however, the internal sense of the Word alone teaches, since this unfolds correspondences. For all things that exist in the natural world correspond to those which exist in the spiritual world, because the former comes into being from and is held in being by the latter.

[2] But what the sacrifices and burnt offerings described in the present chapter hold within them will be stated in the course of unfolding correspondences by means of the internal sense. The subject in the highest sense, in which all holy things are Divine, is the glorification of the Lord's Human, and in the representative sense it is the regeneration of a person. The actual process by which the Lord's Human was glorified and a person is regenerated is described fully by means of the things that were commanded regarding the sacrifices and burnt offerings. So that people may have some conception of that process let other things which their minds are capable of understanding serve to explain it. It is well known that the discernment of things seen with the eyes and heard by the ears takes place inwardly in a person; those things pass so to speak from the world by way of the eyes or ears into thought, and so into the understanding since thought belongs to the understanding. And if they are the kinds of things the person loves they pass from there into the will, and then from the will by way of the understanding into words spoken by the mouth and also into actions performed by the body. Such is the cycle in all this, passing from the world by way of the natural man into the spiritual man, and going out from there into the world again. Yet it should be remembered that this cycle is started off by the will, which is the inmost core of a person's life, and that it begins there and is inspired by it to run its full course. The will of a person in whom good is present is governed from heaven by the Lord, though the situation appears to be other than this. Influx takes place from the spiritual world into the natural world, thus through the internal man into the external man, but not the other way round; for the internal man is in heaven, whereas the external man is in the world.

[3] This cycle is the cycle of a person's life, and therefore when someone is being regenerated his regeneration proceeds in accord with that same cycle; and when he has been regenerated his life and actions proceed in accord with it. Consequently, while a person is being regenerated the truths which will compose his faith are instilled through hearing and sight; they are implanted in the memory belonging to his natural man. Then they are transferred from the memory into thought belonging to the understanding, and those which the person loves become part of his will. To the extent that they become part of his will they become part of his life, since a person's will constitutes his actual life; and to the extent that they become part of his life they become part of his affection, and so of charity in his will and of faith in his understanding. That life, which consists of charity and faith, then becomes the source of the person's words and actions. Out of the charity which occupies his will come the words he speaks with his mouth as well as the actions he performs with his body; and both come by way of his understanding, thus by way of his faith. From all this it is clear that the cycle of a person's regeneration is akin to the cycle of his life in general, and that it is in like manner started off in the will by an influx coming from heaven and beginning in the Lord.

[4] From this also it is evident that there are two states that a person undergoing regeneration experiences, the first being a time when the truths of faith are being implanted and joined to the good of charity, the second a time when the good of charity through the truths of faith governs what he says and how he acts. The first state is accordingly one that goes from the world by way of the natural man into the spiritual man, thus into heaven, and the second from heaven by way of the spiritual man into the natural man, thus into the world. The spiritual or internal man, as has been stated above, is in heaven, and the natural or external man is in the world. This cycle is the cycle of a person's regeneration, and therefore is the cycle of his spiritual life. Regarding those two states of a person who is being regenerated, see the places referred to in 9274.

[5] From what has been stated people may gain some idea of the glorification of the Lord's Human; for as the Lord glorified His Human, so He regenerates a person, and therefore, as has already been stated a number of times, the regeneration of a person is an image of the Lord's glorification. From this it is evident that the first state of His glorification consisted in making His Human Divine Truth and uniting it to the Divine Good that was within Him, and that the second state consisted in acting from Divine Good through Divine Truth. For by means of Divine Truth emanating from the Lord's Divine Good heaven is built and the Church is built, and by means of Divine Truth all within the Church are regenerated. These matters are what the sacrifices, burnt offerings, and their ritual observances spoken of in the present chapter serve to describe. The sacrifice of the young bull and the burnt offering of the first ram serve to describe the first state, and 'the fillings of the hand' with parts of the second ram the second state, while the sacrifice of the young bull and the daily burnt offering of lambs mentioned last in the chapter serve to mean the continuation of that second state.

[6] It should be remembered that purification from evils and consequent falsities in the case of a person who is being regenerated goes on unceasingly; for to the extent that a person is purified from evils and falsities the truths of faith are implanted and joined to the good of charity and the good of charity becomes the source of the person's actions. Purification from evils and falsities in man's case is not a deliverance from them; rather it is a removal or moving away of them, see 868, 887, 894, 929, 1581, 2269, 2406, 4564, 8206, 8393, 8988, 9014, 9333, 9446-9451, 9938. In the Lord's case however it was not a removal but a casting out of those which He had derived from His mother, thus a complete deliverance from them, so complete that He was no longer Mary's son, see the places referred to in 9315 (end).

These matters have been mentioned by way of introduction in order that people may know what is meant by filling the hand with parts of the second ram, spoken of in what follows immediately below.