921. “挪亚筑了一座祭坛给耶和华” 表主的一个代表. 这一点从刚才所述清楚可知. 古教会的所有宗教仪式都是主的代表, 如犹太教会那样. 但后世的主要代表是祭坛和燔祭. 献燔祭要用洁净的畜类和洁净的鸟类, 它们照各自的意义而具有代表性, 洁净的畜类表仁之善, 洁净的鸟类表信之真. 当古教会成员献上这些东西时, 就表示他们正在向主献上这些善与真的礼物. 只有将这些东西献给主才会讨祂喜悦. 而他们的后代, 如外邦人, 还有犹太人, 却败坏了这些祭物, 甚至不知道它们具有这样的意义. 他们的敬拜仅仅局限于外在事物.

这个祭坛是主的主要代表. 这一点可从以下事实清楚看出来, 即在设立其它仪式, 制作约柜, 建造圣殿之前, 连外邦人当中也有祭坛. 这可从亚伯兰明显看出来, 如他来到伯特利东边的山上, 在那里筑了一座坛, 求告耶和华的名 (创世记 12:8); 后来他被吩咐把以撒作为燔祭献在坛上 (创世记 22:2, 9), 雅各 (Jacob) 在路斯或伯特利筑了一座坛 (创世记 35:6, 7); 摩西在西奈山下筑了一座坛, 并献燔祭 (出埃及记 24:4-6). 所有这一切都发生在设立犹太人的祭祀和制作约柜之前, 后来在旷野有约柜的地方举行敬拜. 外邦人中也有祭坛的事实同样从巴兰明显看出来, 巴兰对巴勒说, 他当筑七座坛, 预备七只牛和七只羊 (民数记 23:1-7, 15-18, 29, 30); 还可从摧毁列国祭坛的命令明显看出来 (申命记 7:5; 士师记 2:2). 所以, 用祭坛和燔祭进行神圣敬拜并非犹太人所创的新鲜事. 事实上, 就在人们想宰杀小公牛和其它动物作祭品以示纪念之前, 他们就在筑坛了.

“祭坛” 表主的一个代表, 因此 “献燔祭” 表敬拜祂. 这一点明显可见于先知书, 如在摩西书中, 当论及拥有祭司职位的利未时:

他们要将你的典章教训雅各, 将你的律法教训以色列. 他们要把香焚在你鼻孔前, 把全牲的燔祭献在你的坛上. (申命记 33:10)

这段经文表敬拜的全部. “将你的典章教训雅各 (Jacob), 将你的律法教训以色列” 表内在敬拜, 而 “要把香焚在你鼻孔前, 把全牲的燔祭献在你的坛上” 则表相应的外在敬拜, 因而表敬拜的全部. 以赛亚书:

当那日, 人必仰望造他们的主, 眼目重看以色列的圣者. 他必不仰望祭坛, 就是自己手所筑的. (以赛亚书 17:7, 8)

此处 “仰望祭坛” 明显表示要被废除的一般代表性敬拜. 又:

当那日, 在埃及陆地中间必有为耶和华筑的一座坛, 在埃及的边界上必有为耶和华立的一根柱. (以赛亚书 19:19)

此处 “祭坛” 同样表外在敬拜.

耶利米哀歌:

主丢弃自己的祭坛, 憎恶自己的圣所. (耶利米哀歌 1:7)

“祭坛” 表变成偶像崇拜的代表性敬拜. 何西阿书:

以法莲为赎罪增添祭坛, 因此, 它们成了使他犯罪的祭坛. (何西阿书 8:11)

此处 “祭坛” 表脱离内在敬拜的所有代表性敬拜, 因而表偶像崇拜之物. 又:

亚文的高丘, 就是以色列取罪的地方, 必被毁灭. 荆棘和蒺藜必长在他们的祭坛上. (何西阿书 10:8)

此处 “祭坛” 也表偶像崇拜. 阿摩司书:

我讨罚以色列罪孽的日子, 也要讨罚伯特利的祭坛, 祭坛的角必被砍下. (阿摩司书 3:14)

此处 “祭坛” 同样表已变成偶像崇拜的代表性敬拜.

诗篇:

求你带我到你的圣山, 到你的居所! 我就走到神的祭坛, 到我最喜乐的神那里. (诗篇 43:3, 4)

此处 “祭坛” 明显表示主. 在古时和犹太教会, 制作一个祭坛表示主的一个代表. 由于对主的敬拜主要通过燔祭和祭物来进行, 因而这些事物表示主要的代表性敬拜, 故显而易见, 祭坛本身表示这种代表性敬拜本身.

5147. There was some of every kind of food for Pharaoh' means full of celestial good for nourishing the natural. This is clear from the meaning of 'food' as celestial good, dealt with below; and from the representation of 'Pharaoh' as the interior natural, dealt with in 5080, 5095, and also the natural in general, since the interior natural and the exterior natural make one when they correspond. And because food exists to provide nourishment, 'every kind of food for Pharaoh' means full of celestial good for nourishing the natural. It is said that this food was in the highest basket, meaning that the inmost degree of the will was full of celestial good. For good from the Lord flows in by way of the inmost degree in a person; and from there it passes degree by degree, so to speak down a flight of steps, to what is more exterior. For in relation to other degrees the inmost one exists in the most perfect state, and can therefore receive good from the Lord directly, in a way the lower ones cannot. If these were to receive good from the Lord directly, they would either obscure it or pervert it, since they are less perfect in comparison with the inmost degree.

[2] As regards the influx of celestial good from the Lord and the reception of it, it should be recognized that the will part of the human mind is the receiver of good and the understanding part is the receiver of truth. The understanding part cannot possibly receive truth so as to make this its own unless at the same time the will part receives good; and vice versa. For one flows as a result into the other and disposes that other to be receptive. All that constitutes the understanding may be compared to forms which are constantly varying, and all that constitutes the will may be compared to the harmonies resulting from those variations. Consequently truths may be compared to variations, and forms of good may be compared to the delights which those variations bring. And this being pre-eminently the case with truths and forms of good it is evident that one cannot exist without the other, as well as that one cannot be brought forth except by means of the other.

[3] The reason 'food' means celestial good is that angels' food consists in nothing else than forms of the good of love and charity, and that these serve to enliven angels and to rejuvenate them. Especially when they are expressed in action or practice do those forms of good cause angels to feel rejuvenated, for they are the desires they have; for it is a well known fact that when a person's desires are expressed in action he feels rejuvenated and enlivened. Those desires also nourish a person's spirit when material food supplies nourishment to his body, as may be recognized from the fact that when no delight is taken in food it is not very nutritious, but when delight is taken in it, it is nutritious. The delight taken in food is what opens the meatus or channels which serve to convey it into the blood, whereas the opposite closes them. Among angels those delights are forms of the good of love and charity, and from this one may deduce that these are spiritual kinds of food which correspond to earthly ones. Also, just as forms of good are meant by different kinds of food, so truths are meant by 'drink'.

[4] In the Word 'food' is mentioned in many places, yet someone unacquainted with the internal sense will inevitably suppose that in those places ordinary food is meant. In fact spiritual food is meant, as in Jeremiah,

All the people groan as they search for bread. They have given their desirable things for food to restore the soul. Lamentations 1:11.

In Isaiah,

Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters, and he who has no money, come, buy, and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Isaiah 55:1.

In Joel,

The day of Jehovah is near, and as destruction from the thunderbolt-hurler will it come. [s not the food cut off before our eyes, gladness and joy from the house of our God? The grains have rotted under their clods, the storehouses have been laid waste, the granaries have been destroyed, because the grain has failed. Joel 1:15-17.

In David,

Our storehouses are full, yielding food and still more food; our flocks are thousands, and ten thousands in our streets. There is no outcry in our streets. Blessed are the people for whom it is thus. Psalms 144:13-15.

In the same author,

They all look to You, that You may give them their food in due season. You give to them - they gather it up; You open Your hand - they are satisfied with good. Psalms 104:27-28.

[5] In these places celestial and spiritual food is meant in the internal sense when material food is referred to in the sense of the letter. From this one may see how the interior features of the Word and its exterior features correspond to one another, that is, how what belongs inwardly to its spirit and what belongs to its letter do so; so that while man understands those things according to the sense of the letter, the angels present with him understand the same things according to the spiritual sense. The Word has been written in such a way that it may serve not only the human race but heaven also, and for this reason all expressions are used to mean heavenly realities, and every matter described there is representative of these realities. This is so with the Word even to the tiniest jot.

[6] Furthermore the Lord Himself explicitly teaches that good is meant in the spiritual sense by 'food': In John,

Do not labour for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. John 6:27.

In the same gospel,

My flesh is truly food, and My blood is truly drink. John 6:55.

'Flesh' means Divine Good, 3813, and 'blood' Divine Truth, 4735. And in the same gospel,

Jesus said to the disciples, I have food to eat of which you do not know. The disciples said to one another, Has anyone brought Him [anything] to eat? Jesus said to them, My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work. John 4:33-34.

'Doing the will of the Father and finishing His work' means Divine Good when expressed in actions or practice, which in the genuine sense is 'food', as stated above.