10177. 'And you shall make an altar for burning incense' means that which is representative of the Lord, of His hearing and receiving with pleasure everything of worship that springs from love and charity. This is clear from the meaning of 'an altar for burning incense' as that which is representative of such things of worship as are raised up to the Lord. The fact that they are things springing from love and charity will be evident from what follows below. 'An altar' has the same meaning as whatever is placed on it; and this is so because the altar is that which contains and whatever is placed on it is the contents, and container and contents make a single unit, like a table and the bread that is on it or a cup and the wine that is in it.

[2] The reason why an altar and not a table was made for burning incense was that among the Israelite nation altars were the chief representative signs of worship springing from love. For fire burned on them, and 'fire' means the love and charity from which worship springs. Regarding altars, that they were the chief representative signs of worship, see 4192, 4541, 8623, 8935, 8940, 9714.

[3] The reason why the altar of incense represented the hearing and receiving of everything of worship that springs from love and charity was that the creation of the cloud of smoke was a sign of that which is raised up on high, and the odour of the smoke was a sign of that which is pleasing, consequently of that which is heard and received by the Lord. And what springs from love and charity, this alone is pleasing to and received by the Lord. This also explains why that altar was overlaid with gold and was called the golden altar; for 'gold' means the good of love and charity, see the places referred to in 9874, and what has been stated in 9874, 9881.

[4] The reason why that alone which springs from love and charity is pleasing to the Lord, and is therefore heard and received by Him, is that love constitutes all that a person is; for a person is such as his love is. This explains why angels in heaven live as embodiments of love and charity. To them the form of love and charity is the human form, because the Lord, who is within them and gives them form, is - as to His Divine Human - Divine Love itself. From their faces therefore, from their speech, from their gestures, and especially from the spheres of their affections which flow out of them to a long way off, one can perceive clearly what kinds of love reign in them.

[5] And since love to the Lord and charity towards the neighbour originate in the Lord, and since love is a spiritual bonding, whatever emanates from these is heard and received by the Lord. Any holy and religious respect paid to Him that does not spring from them is indeed heard but it is not received with pleasure. It is a hypocritical holiness and respect, something merely outward, devoid of anything inward. Outward holiness devoid of anything inward reaches no further than the outskirts of heaven and dwindles away there. But outward holiness springing from inward reaches right on into heaven, according to the essential nature of that inward holiness, thus reaches towards the Lord. For outward holiness devoid of that inward holiness is a product solely of the lips and movements of the body, whereas outward holiness springing from inward comes at the same time from the heart. Regarding these two kinds of holiness, see what has been stated and shown in 8252-8257.

[6] In the tent of meeting outside the veil there was the table on which the loaves of the presence were laid, also the lampstand with its lamps, and the altar of incense. The loaves of the presence represented love to the Lord, the lamps of the lampstand represented charity and faith, and the incense on the altar represented worship springing from them, which is why it was burned every morning and every evening, when the lamps were 'adorned'. From this as well it is evident that the burning of incense represented worship of the Lord which springs from love and charity. The actual tent in which those objects resided represented heaven, where all worship is such. The loaves represented celestial good, which is the good of love to the Lord, see 9545; the lampstand represented spiritual good, which is the good of charity towards the neighbour and the good of faith, 9548-9561; and the tent represented heaven, 9457, 9481, 9485, 9784, 9963.

[7] When the word 'worship' is used the holiness which is expressed by means of prayers, adorations, thanksgivings, and similar acts of devotion that emanate from inward feelings of love and charity should be understood. These constituents of worship are what should be understood by 'the burning of incense', as may be recognized from the following places: In David,

My prayers are acceptable, [as] incense before You. Psalms 141:2.

In John,

The four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. Revelation 5:8.

In the same book,

An angel holding a golden censer ... And much incense was given to him, that he should offer it with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar which was before the throne. The smoke of the incense went up from the prayers of the saints. Revelation 8:3-4.

[8] Since incense was a sign of worship and of its being raised up, thus of its being heard and received by the Lord, Moses commanded [those who rebelled against him] to take censers with incense in them, and to burn it before Jehovah, in order that they might consequently know whom Jehovah would choose, thus whom He would hear, Numbers 16:1ff. And when the people grumbled Aaron ran with incense, into the midst of the congregation, when a plague began, and in so doing stopped it, Numbers 16:46-48. In Malachi,

From the rising of the sun even to its setting Jehovah's name will be great among the nations, and in every place incense has been offered to My name, and a pure minchah. Malachi 1:11.

'A pure minchah' is added because the good of love is meant by it, 10137. In Moses,

The sons of Levi will teach Jacob [Your] judgements and Israel Your law. They will put incense in Your nose, and burnt offering on Your altar. Deuteronomy 33:10.

The expression 'putting incense in the nose' is used because perception is meant by 'the nostrils', 4624-4634. 'Burnt offering' is added here because by this too that which springs from the good of love is meant.

[9] But in the contrary sense 'burning incense' means worship springing from contrary loves, namely self-love and love of the world, for example burning incense to other gods, Jeremiah 1:16; 44:3, 5; burning incense to idols, Ezekiel 8:11; 16:18; and burning incense to the baalim, Hosea 2:13.

[10] Because the burning of incense served to mean such things as rise upwards to and are accepted with pleasure by the Divine it was also one of the religious practices among gentiles. The use of frankincense, censers, and incense-boxes by the Romans and other nations is well known from historical evidence. That kind of religious practice was derived from the Ancient Church, which was spread through many regions of Asia, such as Syria, Arabia, Babylon, Egypt, and Canaan. That Church had been a representative Church, thus a Church consisting in outward forms that represented inner realities, that is, celestial and spiritual things. A large number of religious practices, one of which was the burning of incense, were passed on from that Church to surrounding nations, and from these through Greece into Italy. Another practice like this was the care of the perpetual fire entrusted to chaste virgins whom they called the Vestal Virgins.

[11] The incense that was burned in the Ancient Church, and consequently in the Israelite Church, was prepared from fragrant substances, such as stacte, onycha, galbanum, and frankincense, because perception was meant by an odour, and delightful perception by a fragrant odour, see 925, 1514, 1517-1519, 3577, 4624-4634, 4748, 10054. But 'frankincense' in particular means the truth of faith, and therefore when frankincense is mentioned in the Word oil, bread, minchah, or else gold, by which the good of love is meant, is linked with it, as in Isaiah,

All those from Sheba will come. They will bring gold and frankincense, and will proclaim the praises of Jehovah. Isaiah 60:6.

Similarly those who came from the east, in Matthew,

Wise men from the east came, seeking the Lord who had then been born ... opening their treasures; and they presented gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Matthew 2:1-2, 11.

In the Word those who were from the east and were called 'sons of the east' mean people who possessed the cognitions or knowledge of goodness and truth, see 3249, 3762. 'Sheba' has the same meaning, 1171, 3240. And for the meaning of 'gold' as the good of love, see the places referred to in 9874 or 9881.

[12] In Jeremiah,

They will bring burnt offering and sacrifice, and minchah, and frankincense. Jeremiah 17:26.

'Minchah' in like manner means the good of love, 9992, 10137. From all this it is evident that in the Word 'frankincense' means truth that composes faith; for where good is spoken of in the Word, so too is truth, on account of the heavenly marriage, which is that of goodness and truth, in every single part of it, see the places referred to in 9263[end], 9314. For the same reason also oil as well as frankincense was placed on a minchah, Leviticus 2:1-2, 15, though not on a minchah required for a sin offering, Leviticus 5:11, nor on a minchah for jealousy, Numbers 5:15. The reason why they were not placed on these minchahs was that such minchahs were presented for expiation from evils, and as long as a person is at the stage of expiation he cannot receive the good of love or truth of faith, because evils stand in the way. It is different after they have been expiated or removed.

[13] The good of love cannot be imparted to anyone unless at the same time the truth of faith is as well. For good brings truth into being, and in that truth it acquires a particular quality and receives an outward form. This was why every minchah had frankincense on it, as did the loaves of the presence which were laid on the table in the tent of meeting, Leviticus 24:7, the good of love being meant by 'loaves', 3478, 3813, 4211, 4217, 4735, 4976, 8410, 9323, 9545, 10040, 10137.

4552. 'And Jacob hid them under the oak which was by Shechem' means an eternal casting away. This is clear from the meaning of 'hiding' as casting away and burying as dead, and from the meaning of 'under the oak' as for ever, for being a tree that lives to a very great age, 'the oak' meant, when anything was hidden under it, that which is everlasting. It also had the meaning of that which is tangled up, and above all that which is deceptive and false, because compared with everything above it the lowest part of the natural is tangled up and deceptive, inasmuch as it relies on the physical senses, and so on deceptive ideas, for its knowledge and delight. Specifically 'the oak' means the lowest part of the natural, and therefore in the good sense means the truths and goods there, and in the contrary sense the evils and falsities there.

[2] Furthermore, when falsities are being removed in the case of a regenerate person they are cast away to the lowest part of the natural. For this reason when anyone has become mature in judgement and clear-sighted, and especially when he has become intelligent and wise, those things in the natural seem to be far removed from the interior sight he has. For with one who is regenerate truths are present within the inmost part of his natural alongside the good there, which is like a small sun. Other kinds of truths which are dependent on these are distanced from them by, so to speak, their relationships by blood or through marriage to good. Deceptive truths exist in the more outlying parts, and falsities are cast away to the outermost parts. These remain with a person for ever, arranged - when he allows himself to be led by the Lord - into the kind of order that has just been described. For that ordering is a heavenly one since heaven itself is ordered in a similar way. But when a person does not allow himself to be led by the Lord but by evil, a contrary ordering exists. In his case evil together with falsities is at the centre; truths have then been cast away to the surrounding parts, and actual Divine truths to the ultimate parts. This ordering is a hellish one since hell itself is ordered in a similar way. The most outlying parts constitute the lowest of the natural.

[3] The reason why 'the oak' means falsities which are the lowest parts of the natural is that in the Ancient Church, when external worship representative of the Lord's kingdom existed, all trees of every kind had some spiritual or else celestial meaning. The olive, for example, and consequently olive oil, meant those things which belonged to celestial love; the vine and consequently wine those things that belonged to charity and from this to faith; and so on with every other kind of tree, such as the cedar, the fig, the poplar, the beech, and the oak, which too had their own individual meanings, as shown in various places in explanatory sections. It is because of the meaning these trees had in the Ancient Church that they are mentioned so many times in the Word, as also in general are gardens, groves, and forests, and that people held their worship in these, under particular trees. But because that worship became idolatrous, and the descendants of Jacob, among whom a representative of the Church was to be established, were inclined to idolatrous practices and therefore set up so many idols in such places, they were forbidden to hold worship in gardens and groves, under the trees there. Even so, these trees retained their spiritual or celestial meanings. Consequently not only the more noble trees, such as olives, vines, and cedars, but also the poplar, the beech, and the oak, when mentioned in the Word, have the same meanings as they had in the Ancient Church.

[4] 'Oaks' in the good sense means the truths and forms of good that make up the lowest parts of the natural, and in the contrary sense the falsities and evils which do so, as is clear from places where they are mentioned in the Word and understood in the internal sense, as in Isaiah,

Those forsaking Jehovah will be consumed, for they will be ashamed of the oaks which you have desired. And you will be like an oak, casting down its leaves and like a garden that has no water. Isaiah 1:28-30.

In the same prophet,

The day of Jehovah Zebaoth upon everyone uplifted or lowly, and upon all the cedars of Lebanon, and upon all the oaks of Bashan. Isaiah 2:12-13.

Anyone may recognize that 'the day of Jehovah' is not going to be a visitation upon cedars and oaks but upon people meant by those trees. In the same prophet,

He who fashions a god cuts down cedars for himself, and takes a beech and an oak and strengthens himself among the trees of the forest. Isaiah 44:10, 14.

[5] In Ezekiel,

You will acknowledge that I am Jehovah, when their slain lie in the midst of the idols around their altars, upon every high hill, on all the mountain-tops, and under every green tree, and under every entangled oak, in the place where they offered an odour of rest to all their idols. Ezekiel 6:13.

The ancients also worshipped on hills and mountains because 'hills and mountains' means heavenly love - though when idolaters do the same, self-love and love of the world are meant, 795, 796, 1430, 2722, 4210 - and also under trees because, as stated above, each had a meaning of its own depending on what kind of tree it was. 'Under an entangled oak' here means worship based on falsities constituting the lowest parts of the natural, for they exist there in an entangled condition, 2831. In Hosea,

They offer sacrifice on mountain-tops and burn incense on hills, under oak, poplar, and hard oak, because its shade is good. Therefore your daughters commit whoredom, and your daughters-in-law commit adultery. Hosea 4:13.

'Committing whoredom' means falsifying truths, and 'committing adultery' perverting forms of good - see 2466, 2729, 3399. In Zechariah,

Open your doors, O Lebanon, and let fire consume your cedars, for the cedar is fallen, for the magnificent ones are ruined. Howl, O oaks of Bashan, for the forest of Bazir has come down. Zechariah 11:1-2.