9293. And My faces shall not be seen empty. That this signifies the reception of good by virtue of mercy, and thanksgiving, is evident from the signification of “the faces of Jehovah,” as being good, mercy, peace (see n. 222, 223, 5585, 7599); and from the signification of “not being seen empty,” or without a gift, as being a testification on account of the reception of good, and, thanksgiving; for the gifts that were offered to Jehovah signified such things as are offered by man from the heart unto the Lord, and are accepted by the Lord. Gifts are like all man’s deeds, which in themselves are nothing but gestures, and regarded apart from the will are merely movements that are fashioned in various ways, and as it were jointed, not unlike the motions of a machine, and thus devoid of life. But man’s deeds regarded along with his will are not such motions, but are forms of the will shown before the eyes; for deeds are nothing else than testifications of such things as belong to the will; and they also have their soul or life from the will. And therefore the same can be said of deeds as of motions, namely, that there is nothing living in deeds except will, just as there is nothing living in motions except endeavor. That this is so, is also known to man; for he who is intelligent does not attend to a man’s deeds, but only to the will from which, by which, and on account of which, the deeds come forth. Nay, he who is wise scarcely sees the deeds, but only the nature and amount of the will in them. The case is the same with gifts, in that it is the will in these which the Lord looks at; consequently by the gifts offered to Jehovah—that is, to the Lord—are signified such things as are of the will, or of the heart. Man’s will is what is called in the Word his “heart.” From all this it is also evident how it is to be understood that everyone will receive judgment in the other life according to his deeds or works (Matthew 16:27); namely, that it will be according to those things which are of the heart, and from this of the life.

[2] That such things are signified by the gifts offered to Jehovah, is plain from the Word, as in David:

Sacrifice and gift Thou hast not desired, burnt-offering and sacrifice for sin Thou hast not required. I have longed to do Thy will, O my God (Psalms 40:6, 8).

Jehovah your God, He is God of gods, and Lord of lords, who accepteth not faces, and taketh not a gift (Deuteronomy 10:17).

If thou offer thy gift upon the altar, and with this doth remember that thy brother hath something against thee, leave there thy gift before the altar, and go away; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift (Matthew 5:23-24).

From this it is evident that gifts offered to the Lord were testifications of such things as are offered by the heart, which are those of faith and of charity; being “reconciled to a brother” denotes charity toward the neighbor.

[3] Again:

There came wise men from the East, and they offered to the newborn Lord gifts, gold, frankincense, and myrrh (Matthew 2:1, 11);

by “gold, frankincense, and myrrh” are signified all things of the good of love and of faith in the Lord; by “gold” those of the good of love; by “frankincense” those of the good of faith; and by “myrrh” those of both in things external. The reason why the wise men from the East offered these things, was that among some in the East there remained from ancient times the knowledge and wisdom of the men of old, which consisted in understanding and seeing heavenly and Divine things in those which are in the world and upon the earth. For it was known to the ancients that all things correspond and are representative, and consequently have a signification; as is also evident from the most ancient books and monuments of the Gentiles. Consequently they knew that gold, frankincense, and myrrh signify the goods which are to be offered to God. They also knew from their prophetic writings, which were of the Ancient Church (n. 2686), that the Lord was to come into the world, and that a star would then appear to them, of which star moreover Balaam, who also was one of the sons of the East, prophesied (Numbers 24:17 n. 3762); for a “star” signifies the knowledges of internal good and truth, which are from the the Lord, (n. 2495, 2849, 4697).

[4] In David:

The kings of Tarshish and of the Isles shall bring a gift; the kings of Sheba and Seba shall bring a present; and all kings shall bow themselves; and all nations shall serve Him (Psalms 72:10-11).

These things were said of the Lord; by “bringing a gift,” and “bringing a present,” is signified the good of love and of faith; for “Tarshish” signifies the doctrinal things of love and of faith (n. 1156); “Sheba and Seba” signify the knowledges of good and truth (n. 1171, 3240); “kings,” the truths of the church (n. 1672, 2015, 2069, 3009, 4581, 4966, 5044, 5068, 6148); and “nations,” the goods of the church (n. 1159, 1258-1260, 1416, 1849, 4574, 6005, 8771). From this it is evident what is meant by “all kings bowing themselves, and all nations serving Him.”

[5] In Isaiah:

They shall declare My glory among the nations; then shall they bring all your brethren out of all nations for a gift to Jehovah, upon horses, upon chariots, and upon litters, and upon mules, and upon dromedaries, to the mountain of My holiness Jerusalem; as the sons of Israel bring a gift in a clean vessel into the house of Jehovah (Isaiah 66:19-20);

he who is unacquainted with the internal sense of the Word may believe that these things were said of the Jews, and that these would therefore be brought to Jerusalem by the nations; but it is the goods of love and of faith in the Lord that are thus prophetically described; and the things meant by “a gift, horses, chariots, litters, mules, and dromedaries,” upon which they were to be brought, are the intellectual, doctrinal, and memory things of truth and good, as is evident from their signification (of horses, n. 2760-2762, 3217, 5321, 6125, 6401, 6534, 8029, 8146, 8248; of chariots, n. 5321, 5945, 8146, 8148, 8215; and of mules, n. 2781).

[6] In Malachi:

He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and He shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may bring to Jehovah a gift in righteousness. Then shall the gift of Judah and of Jerusalem be sweet to Jehovah, as in the days of old, and as in former years (Malachi 3:3-4);

as by “a gift offered to Jehovah” is signified the good of love and of faith, therefore it is said that “they may bring to Jehovah a gift in righteousness,” and that “then it will be sweet to Jehovah” “purifying the sons of Levi, and purging them as gold and silver” signifies the purification of good and truth from evils and falsities; “the sons of Levi” denote those who are in faith and charity, thus who are of the spiritual church (n. 3875, 4497, 4502, 4503); “Judah” denotes the good of celestial love, thus those who are in this good (n. 3654, 3881).

7828. This is the first to you in the months of the year. That this signifies the beginning from which will be all the following states to eternity, is evident from the signification of “to be the first,” when it is said of the months of the year, and in the internal sense of the states of life, as being the beginning; from the signification of “months,” as being states (of which just above, n. 7827); and from the signification of “year,” as being a period of life from beginning to end (n. 2906). In the present case, because it is said of those who are of the spiritual church in the other life, the period of whose life has a beginning but not an end, by “year” is signified a period of life from the beginning to eternity (that “year” has also this signification see n. 2906). This month was made the head of months and the first of all, because by it is signified the beginning of the liberation of those who are of the spiritual church, and who up to this time had been in a state of captivity, because detained in the lower earth, and there infested by the evil, who are represented by Pharaoh and the Egyptians. That their first state, when they were liberated, was the principal of all and the beginning from which would be all the following states to eternity, is because they who were there were liberated by the coming of the Lord into the world, and because without the coming of the Lord into the world they could not possibly have been saved, and because they were liberated at the time when the Lord rose again. From this it is evident that the state when they were liberated was to them the principal of all states. The case is the same also afterward with all those who are of the spiritual church, who could not possibly have been saved unless the Lord had come into the world, and glorified His Human, that is, made it Divine. That they who were of the spiritual church before the coming of the Lord were detained in the lower earth and were liberated and saved by the Lord, see n. 6854, 6914; and in general, that they who were of the spiritual church have been saved by the Lord’s coming, n. 2661, 2716, 6372, 7035, 7091; and therefore in the supreme sense by these words is signified that the glorification and resurrection of the Lord as to His Human is the source of all salvation.