10026. And thou shalt take of the blood of the bullock. That this signifies Divine truth accommodated in the natural or external man, is evident from the signification of “blood,” as being the Divine truth that proceeds from the Lord’s Divine good (of which below); and from the signification of “the bullock,” as being the natural of man, which is to be purified, and in which truth and good are to be implanted (see n. 9990). That mention is here first made of “blood,” and that it was to be put on the horns of the altar, and the rest of it poured out at its base, is because by “blood” in the Word is signified the Divine truth that proceeds from the Lord’s Divine good, and all purification is effected thereby, for truth teaches man what is good and how he should live, and when a man knows this, then for the first time can the affection or love of good be implanted, and thus the man be regenerated. For knowledge must come first, before man can have faith, and live the life of faith, which is the life of good. (That all purification from evils and falsities is effected through the truths of faith, consequently all regeneration, see the places cited in n. 9959.)

[2] They who have no knowledge of the internal sense of the Word, thus who do not know that by “blood” is signified Divine truth, and that by this from the Lord is effected purification, believe that man is purified by the blood of the Lord, by which they understand His passion of the cross. But be it known to them that no one is purified by the Lord’s passion of the cross, thus by His blood; but by a life according to His precepts, as He Himself teaches in many places. The passion of the cross was the last of the Lord’s temptation, by which He fully glorified His Human, as He Himself also says in Luke:

Ought not Christ to suffer this, and to enter into His glory? (Luke 24:26).

For the Lord came into the world that He might subjugate the hells and bring back all things into order, even in the heavens, which was effected through temptations admitted into Himself; and the passion of the cross was the last of His temptation, by which He fully conquered the hells, and set the heavens in order, and at the same time glorified His Human; and unless He had done this, no man could have been saved (but see wh at has been abundantly shown before on these subjects at the places cited in n. 9528, 9715, 9937, 10019); and that by “the blood of the Lord” is signified the Divine truth that proceeds from His Divine good (n. 4735, 6378, 6978, 7317, 7326, 7850, 9127, 9393).

9990. Take one bullock, a son of the herd. That this signifies the purification of the natural or external man, is evident from the signification of a “bullock,” as being the good of innocence and of charity in the natural or external man (see n. 9391). And because it is said “a son of the herd,” there is signified also the truth of this good, for a “son” denotes truth, and a “herd,” the natural. (That a “son” denotes truth, see n. 489, 491, 533, 2623, 3373, 9807; and that a “herd” denotes the natural, n. 2566, 5913, 8937.) That by a “bullock, a son of the herd” is here signified the purification of the natural or external man, is because it was sacrificed, and by sacrifices was signified purification from evils and falsities, or expiation, here purification from the evils and falsities which are in the natural or external man. But purification in the spiritual or internal man is signified by the “burnt-offering of the ram.”

[2] In order to know what the burnt-offerings and sacrifices severally represented, it must be known that there is in man an external and also an internal, and that in each of these there is what relates to truth and what relates to good; and therefore when a man is to be regenerated, he must be regenerated as to the external and as to the internal, and in both as to truth and as to good. But before a man can be regenerated, he must be purified from evils and falsities, for these stand in the way. The purifications of the external man were represented by burnt-offerings and sacrifices of oxen, bullocks, and he-goats; and the purifications of the internal man by burnt-offerings and sacrifices of rams, kids, and she-goats; but the purification of the internal itself, which is the inmost, by burnt-offerings and sacrifices of lambs; and therefore what particular purification or expiation was represented can be seen from the animals themselves that were sacrificed.

[3] It is said what purification or expiation was “represented,” because the burnt-offerings and sacrifices did not purify or expiate man, but only represented purification or expiation; for who is not able to know that such things do not take away anything of the evil and falsity with a man? (See the passages cited from the Word in n. 2180.) That they did not take away, but only represented, was because with the Israelitish and Jewish nation there was instituted the representative of a church, through which conjunction was effected with the heavens, and through the heavens with the Lord (on which subject see what was shown in the places cited above, n. 9320 end, 9380). But what was specifically represented by the burnt-offerings and sacrifices of bullocks, rams, and lambs, will be seen later in this chapter, for these are there treated of.