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Leviticus 8

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1 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

2 Take Aaron with his sons, their vestments, and the oil of unction, a calf for sin, two rams, a basket with unleavened bread,

3 And thou shalt gather together all the congregation to the door of the tabernacle.

4 And Moses did as the Lord had commanded. And all the multitude being gathered together before the door of the tabernacle,

5 He said: This is the word that the Lord hath commanded to be done.

6 And immediately he offered Aaron and his sons: and when he had washed them,

7 He vested the high priest with the strait linen garment, girding him with the girdle, and putting on him the violet tunick, and over it he put the ephod,

8 And binding it with the girdle, he fitted it to the rational, on which was Doctrine and Truth.

9 He put also the mitre upon his head: and upon the mitre over the forehead, he put the plate of gold, consecrated with sanctification, as the Lord had commanded him.

10 He took also the oil of unction, with which he anointed the tabernacle, with all the furniture thereof.

11 And when he had sanctified and sprinkled the altar seven times, he anointed it, and all the vessels thereof, and the laver with the foot thereof, he sanctified with the oil.

12 And he poured it upon Aaron's head, and he anointed and consecrated him :

13 And after he had offered his sons, he vested them with linen tunicks, and girded them with girdles, and put mitres on them as the Lord had commanded.

14 He offered also the calf for sin: and when Aaron and his sons had put their hands upon the head thereof,

15 He immolated it: and took the blood, and dipping his finger in it, he touched the horns of the altar round about. Which being expiated, and sanctified, he poured the rest of the blood at the bottom thereof.

16 But the fat that was upon the entrails, and the caul of the liver, and the two little kidneys, with their fat, he burnt upon the altar:

17 And the calf with the skin, and the flesh and the dung, he burnt without the camp, as the Lord had commanded.

18 He offered also a ram for a holocaust: and when Aaron and his sons had put their hands upon its head,

19 He immolated it, and poured the blood thereof round about upon the altar.

20 And cutting the ram into pieces, the head thereof, and the joints, and the fat he burnt in the fire,

21 Having first washed the entrails, and the feet, and the whole ram together he burnt upon the altar, because it was a holocaust of most sweet odour to the Lord, as he had commanded him.

22 He offered also the second ram, in the consecration of priests: and Aaron, and his sons put their hands upon the head thereof:

23 And when Moses had immolated it, he took of the blood thereof, and touched the tip of Aaron's right ear, and the thumb of his right hand, and in like manner also the great toe of his right foot.

24 He offered also the sons of Aaron: and when with the blood of the ram that was immolated, he had touched the tip of the right ear of every one of them, and the thumbs of their right hands, and the great toes of their right feet, the rest he poured on the altar round about:

25 But the fat, and the rump, and all the fat that covereth the entrails, and the caul of the liver, and the two kidneys with their fat, and with the right shoulder, he separated.

26 And taking out of the basket; of unleavened bread, which was before the Lord, a loaf without leaven, and a cake tempered with oil and a wafer, he put them upon the fat, and the right shoulder,

27 Delivering all to Aaron, and to his sons: wile having lifted them up before the Lord,

28 He took them again from their hands, and burnt them upon the altar of holocaust, because it was the oblation of consecration, for a sweet odour of sacrifice to the Lord.

29 And he took of the ram of consecration, the breast for his portion, elevating it before the Lord, as the Lord had commanded him.

30 And taking the ointment, and the blood that was upon the altar, he sprinkled Aaron, and his vestments, and his sons, and their vestments with it.

31 And when he had sanctified them in their vestments, he commanded them, saying: Boil the flesh before the door of the tabernacle, and there eat it. eat ye also the loaves of consecration, that are laid in the basket, as the Lord commanded me, saying: Aaron and his sons shall eat them:

32 And whatsoever shall be left of the flesh and the leaves, shall be consumed with fire.

33 And you shall not go out of the door of the tabernacle for seven days, until the day wherein the time of your consecration shall be expired. For in seven days the consecration is finished:

34 As at this present it hath been done, that the rite of the sacrifice might be accomplished.

35 Day and night shall you remain in the tabernacle observing the watches of the Lord, lest you die: for so it hath been commanded me.

36 And Aaron and his sons did all things which the Lord spoke by the hand of Moses.

   

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Apocalypse Revealed # 378

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378. "And have washed their robes." This symbolically means, who have cleansed their religious beliefs of the evils accompanying falsity.

Washing in the Word symbolizes a cleansing oneself of evils and falsities, and robes symbolize general truths (no. 328). General truths are concepts of goodness and truth drawn from the literal sense of the Word, in accordance with which these people have lived, so that they are religious beliefs. And because every matter of religion has relation to goodness and truth, therefore robes are mentioned twice - "have washed their robes" and "have made their robes white."

Robes or religious beliefs are cleansed only in the case of people who fight against evils and so reject falsities, who thus undergo temptations or trials, which are symbolically meant by "the great tribulation" (no. 377).

That to be washed means, symbolically, to be cleansed of evils and falsities, and so to be reformed and regenerated, can be seen from the following passages:

When the Lord has washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and rinsed away the blood of Jerusalem... by the spirit of judgment and by the spirit of purification... (Isaiah 4:4)

Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; put away the evil of your doings from My eyes. Cease to do evil... (Isaiah 1:16)

Wash your heart of its wickedness, O Jerusalem, that you may be saved. (Jeremiah 4:14)

Wash me clean of my iniquity..., and I shall be whiter than snow. (Psalms 51:2, 7)

...if you wash yourself with soda, and use much soap, your iniquity will still retain its spots. (Jeremiah 2:22)

If I wash myself with melted snow, and cleanse my hands with soap..., yet... my own clothes will abhor me. (Job 9:30-31)

Who... has washed his clothing in wine, and his vesture in the blood of grapes. (Genesis 49:11)

This is said of the celestial church, from which come people prompted by love toward the Lord, and in the highest sense it is said of the Lord Himself. Wine and the blood of grapes are spiritual and celestial Divine truth.

I washed you with water, and rinsed off your blood from upon you... (Ezekiel 16:9)

This is said of Jerusalem. Water is truth, and blood is an adulteration of truth.

[2] It can be seen from this what washing in the Israelite Church represented and thus symbolized. As, for example, that Aaron was to wash himself before he put on the vestments of his ministry (Leviticus 16:4, 24), and before he approached the altar to minister (Exodus 30:18-21; 40:30-31).

[3] It can be seen from this that among the children of Israel washing represented a spiritual washing, which is a cleansing from evils and falsities, and thus reformation and regeneration.

It is apparent also from the aforesaid what baptism by John in the Jordan symbolized (Matthew 3, Mark 1:4-13), and what the symbolic meaning of the following words by John regarding the Lord is, that He baptized with the Holy Spirit and with fire (Luke 3:16, John 1:33), and regarding himself, that he baptized with water (John 1:26). The meaning is that the Lord washes or purifies a person by Divine truth and Divine goodness, and that John by his baptism represented this. For the Holy Spirit is Divine truth, the fire is Divine goodness, and the water is representative of these. For water symbolizes the truth in the Word, which becomes goodness by one's living in accordance with it (no. 50).

  
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Many thanks to the General Church of the New Jerusalem, and to Rev. N.B. Rogers, translator, for the permission to use this translation.