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Exodus 33

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1 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: God, get thee up from this place, thou and thy people which thou has brought out of the land of Egypt, into the land concerning which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying: To thy seed I will give it.

2 And I will send an angel before thee, that I may cast out the Chanaanite, and the Amorrhite, and the Hethite, and the Pherezite, and the Hevite, and the Jebusite.

3 That thou mayst enter into the land that floweth with milk and honey. For I will not go up with thee, because thou art a stiffnecked people: lest I destroy thee in the way.

4 And the people hearing these very bad tidings, mourned: and no man put on his ornaments according to custom.

5 And the Lord said to Moses: Say to the children of Israel: Thou are a stiffnecked people; once I shall come up in the midst of thee, and shall destroy thee. Now presently lay aside thy ornaments, that I may know what to do with thee.

6 So the children of Israel laid aside their ornaments by mount Horeb.

7 Moses also taking the tabernacle, pitched it without the camp afar off, and called the name thereof, The tabernacle of the covenant. And all the people that had any question, went forth to the tabernacle of the covenant, without the camp.

8 And when Moses went forth to the tabernacle, all the people rose up, and every one stood in the door of his pavilion, and they beheld the back of Moses, till he went into the tabernacle.

9 And when he was gone into the tabernacle of the covenant, the pillar of the cloud came down, and stood at the door, and he spoke with Moses.

10 And all saw that the pillar of the cloud stood at the door of the tabernacle. And they stood, and worshipped at the doors of their tents.

11 And the Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as a man is wont to speak to his friend. And when he returned into the camp, his servant Josue the son of Nun, a young man, departed not from the tabernacle.

12 And Moses said to the Lord; Thou commandest me to lead forth this people: and thou dost not let me know whom thou wilt send with me, especially whereas thou hast said: I know thee by name, and thou hast found favour in my sight.

13 If therefore I have found favour in thy sight, show me thy face, that I may know thee, and may find grace before thy eyes: look upon thy people this nation.

14 And the Lord said: My face shall go before thee, and I will give thee rest.

15 And Moses said: If thou thyself dost not go before, bring us not out of this place.

16 For how shall we be able to know, I and thy people, that we have found grace in thy sight, unless thou walk with us, that we may be glorified by all people that dwell upon the earth?

17 And the Lord said to Moses: This word also, which thou hast spoken, will I do: for thou hast found grace before me, and thee I have known by name.

18 And he said: Shew me thy glory.

19 He answered: I will shew thee all good, and I will proclaim in the name of the Lord before thee: and I will have mercy on whom I will, and I will be merciful to whom it shall please me.

20 And again he said: Thou canst not see my face: for man shall not see me and live.

21 And again he said: Behold there is a place with me, and thou shalt stand upon the rock.

22 And when my glory shall pass, I will set thee in a hole of the rock, and protect thee with my right hand, till I pass:

23 And I will take away my hand, and thou shalt see my back parts: but my face thou canst not see.

   

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An Invitation to the New Church # 41

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41. In the spiritual world no one knows another from his name only, but from the idea of his quality. This idea causes that other to be present, and to be recognized. Thus, and not otherwise, parents are recognized by their children; children by their parents; and relatives, connections by marriage, and friends, by relatives, connections and friends. In like manner the learned are known from their writings, and from the reputation of their learning; great men and rulers by the fame of their deeds; in like manner kings, emperors and popes. All are known by these things alone. It was granted to me to converse with such; but with others this is not possible. A spirit himself is nothing else than his quality; on this account every one in that world drops his baptismal name, and the name of his family, and is named according to his quality. Hence it is that name in the Word does not signify name, but quality. As the Lord says in the Apocalypse:

Thou hast a few names in Sardis (Revelation 3:4);

and again,

I know thee by name (Exodus 33:17)

(besides a thousand other places where "name" is mentioned). From all this, then, it is manifest, that no one has the Lord present with him, unless he knows His quality. This quality is made known by the truths of the Word; for, as many truths as there are in the Word, just so many mirrors and ideas are there of the Lord, for He is the Word Itself and He is the Truth Itself as He Himself says.

Qualities are of two kinds: one kind pertains to the knowledge concerning Him, that He is the God of heaven and earth, the Son of God the Father, One with the Father, that all things of the Father are in Him-in a word, that He is the Human of God the Father. The other kind pertains to the knowledges of those things that proceed from Him (and the things that proceed from Him are Himself); as what He teaches concerning charity, freedom of choice, repentance, regeneration, the sacraments and very many other things. These things also make up the idea of the Lord, because they are from Him.

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.