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Exodus 30

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1 Thou shalt make also an altar to burn incense, of setim wood.

2 It shall be a cubit in length, and another in breadth, that is, foursquare, and two in height. Horns shall go out of the same.

3 And thou shalt overlay it with the purest gold, as well as the grate thereof, as the walls round about and the horns. And thou shalt make to it a crown of gold round about,

4 And two golden rings under the crown on either side, that the bars may be put into them, and the altar be carried.

5 And thou shalt make the bars also of setim wood, and shalt overlay them with gold.

6 And thou shalt set the altar over against the veil, that hangeth before the ark of the testimony before the propitiatory wherewith the testimony is covered, where I will speak to thee.

7 And Aaron shall burn sweet smelling incense upon it in the morning. When he shall dress the lamps, he shall burn it:

8 And when he shall place them in the evening, he shall burn an everlasting incense before the Lord throughout your generations.

9 You shall not offer upon it incense of another composition nor oblation, and victim, neither shall you offer libations.

10 And Aaron shall pray upon the horns thereof once a year, with the blood of that which was offered for sin, and shall make atonement upon it in your generations. It shall be most holy to the Lord.

11 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

12 When thou shalt take the sum of the children of Israel according to their number, every one of them shall give a price for their souls to the Lord, and there shall be no scourge among them, when they shall be reckoned.

13 And this shall every one give that passeth at the naming, half a sicle according to the standard of the temple. A sicle hath twenty obols. Half a sicle shall be offered to the Lord.

14 He that is counted in the number from twenty years and upwards, shall give the price.

15 The rich man shall not add to half a sicle, and the poor man shall diminish nothing.

16 And the money received which was contributed by the children of Israel, thou shalt deliver unto the uses of the tabernacle of the testimony, that it may be a memorial of them before the Lord, and he may be merciful to their souls.

17 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

18 Thou shalt make also a brazen laver with its foot, to wash in: and thou shalt set it between the tabernacle of the testimony and the altar. And water being put into it,

19 Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and feet in it:

20 When they are going into the tabernacle of the testimony, and when they are to come to the altar, to offer on it incense to the Lord,

21 Lest perhaps they die. It shall be an everlasting law to him, and to his seed by successions.

22 And the Lord spoke to Moses,

23 Saying: Take spices, of principal and chosen myrrh five hundred sicles, and of cinnamon half so much, that is, two hundred and fifty sicles, of calamus in like manner two hundred and fifty.

24 And of cassia five hundred sicles by the weight of the sanctuary, of oil of olives the measure hin:

25 And thou shalt make the holy oil of unction, an ointment compounded after the art of the perfumer,

26 And therewith thou shalt anoint the tabernacle of the testimony, and the ark of the testament,

27 And the table with the vessels thereof, the candlestick and furniture thereof, the altars of incense,

28 And of holocaust, and all the furniture that belongeth to the service of them.

29 And thou shalt sanctify all, and they shall be most holy: he that shall touch them shall be sanctified.

30 Thou shalt anoint Aaron and his sons, and shalt sanctify them, that they may do the office of priesthood unto me.

31 And thou shalt say to the children of Israel: This oil of unction shall be holy unto me throughout your generations.

32 The flesh of man shall not be anointed therewith, and you shall make none other of the same composition, because it is sanctified, and shall be holy unto you.

33 What man soever shall compound such, and shall give thereof to a stranger, he shall be cut off from his people.

34 And the Lord said to Moses: Take unto thee spices, stacte, and onycha, galbanum of sweet savour, and the clearest frankincense, all shall be of equal weight.

35 And thou shalt make incense compounded by the work of the perfumer, well tempered together, and pure, and most worthy of sanctification.

36 And when thou has beaten all into very small powder, thou shalt set of it before the tabernacle of the testimony, in the place where I will appear to thee. Most holy shall this incense be to you.

37 You shall not make such a composition for your own uses, because it is holy to the Lord.

38 What man soever shall make the like, to enjoy the smell thereof, he shall perish out of his people.

   

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Apocalypse Explained # 567

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567. And I heard one voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God.- That this signifies revelation from the Lord out of the spiritual heaven, is evident from the signification of hearing a voice, as denoting revelation, because what was revealed by that voice follows; and from the signification of the golden altar which is before God, as denoting the spiritual Divine of which we shall speak presently; and from the signification of the four horns of the altar, as denoting the spiritual Divine in its ultimates. For the horns were in the ultimates of both altars, as well the altar of burnt-offering, as the altar of incense which is the golden altar; and because the horns were the ultimates of those altars, therefore they signified the Divine as to power, for all power is in ultimates, and for this reason the horns of the altars signified the Divine as to omnipotence; concerning the signification of these, see above (n. 316). That the altar of burnt-offering signified the celestial Divine, which is the Divine Good, may be seen above (n. 391:1-21, 490, 496). But that the altar of incense, or the golden altar, represented and thence signified the spiritual Divine, which is the Divine Truth proceeding from the Lord, is evident from its description to be dealt with below.

[2] It shall be first explained here why the voice was heard from the four horns of the altar. The horns, which projected and stood out from the altars above mentioned, signified every thing belonging to them as to power, as is evident from what has been said and shown above (n. 346, 417), and also from what has been said and shown concerning ultimates in the Arcana Coelestia, as, that interiors flow in successively into externals, even into the extremes or ultimates, and that there also they exist and subsist (n. 624, 6239, 6465, 9215, 9216); that they not only flow in successively, but also form in the ultimate what is simultaneous (in what order, n. 5897, 6451, 8603, 10099); that therefore strength and power are in ultimates (n. 9836); that therefore responses and revelations were given in ultimates (n. 9905, 10548). Since responses and revelations were given in ultimates, it is evident that the reason, why the voice was heard from the four horns of the golden altar, is that the golden altar signifies the spiritual Divine, which is the Divine Truth that reveals, and that the horns signify the ultimates thereof, by means of which revelation is made. The golden altar, upon which they offered incense, signifies the spiritual Divine, which is Divine Truth proceeding from the Lord, because the offerings of incense which were offered upon that altar, signified worship from spiritual good, and the hearing and reception thereof by the Lord; see above (n. 324, 491, 492, 494).

[3] That the altar of incense signified the spiritual Divine, and that the offerings of incense upon it signified worship from spiritual good, and the favourable hearing and reception of it by the Lord, is evident from the construction of that altar, the details of which represented and signified those things. The construction of the altar of incense is thus described in Moses:

"Thou shalt make an altar of the offering of incense; of Shittim wood, shalt thou make it. A cubit shall be the length thereof, and a cubit the breadth thereof; foursquare shall it be; and two cubits shall be the height thereof; the horns thereof shall be out of it. And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, the top thereof, and the walls thereof round about, and the horns thereof; and thou shalt make unto it a border of gold round about. And two golden rings shalt thou make to it, under the border of it, upon the two ribs thereof, upon the two sides of it shalt thou make it; and they shall be for places for the staves to bear it withal. And thou shalt make the staves of Shittim wood, and overlay them with gold. And thou shalt put it before the veil that is over the ark of the testimony, before the mercy seat that is over the testimony, where I will meet with thee. And Aaron shall burn thereon incense of spices in the morning; in the morning, when he dresseth the lamps he shall burn incense upon it. And when Aaron lighteth the lamps between the evenings, he shall burn incense upon it, a perpetual incense before Jehovah throughout your generations. Ye shall offer no strange incense thereon, nor burnt-sacrifice, nor meal-offering; neither shall ye pour drink-offering thereon. And Aaron shall make an expiation upon the horns of it once in a year of the blood of the expiations of sin; once in the year shall he make expiation upon it throughout your generations; this is the holy of holies unto Jehovah" (Exodus 30:1-10).

That these details concerning that altar, signify, in the internal sense, worship from spiritual good, which is the good of charity towards the neighbour, and also the favourable hearing and reception of it by the Lord, may be seen in the Arcana Coelestia, (n. 10176-10213), where they are explained in their series.

  
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Translation by Isaiah Tansley. Many thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.