4748. Et leurs chameaux portaient des aromates, de la résine, et du stacté, signifie les vrais intérieurs naturels : on le voit par la signification des chameaux, en ce qu'ils sont en général les choses qui appartiennent à l'homme naturel et qui servent à l'homme spirituel, et en particulier les scientifiques communs dans l'homme naturel, numéro 3048, 3071, , 3143, 3145, 4156 ; et par la signification des aromates, de la résine et du stade, en ce qu'ils sont les vrais intérieurs naturels qui y ont été conjoints au bien, ainsi qu'il va être montré. Chez les Anciens, des choses suaves et odoriférantes étaient employées dans leur culte sacré, de là leurs encens et leurs parfums ; des choses semblables étaient aussi mêlées avec les huiles qui servaient à leurs onctions ; mais aujourd'hui l'on ne sait pas d'où venait cet usage ; et cela, parce qu'on ignore entièrement que les pratiques du culte chez les Anciens tiraient leur origine des spirituels et des célestes qui sont dans les cieux, et qu'elles y correspondaient ; l'homme s'est tellement éloigné des spirituels et des célestes, et est tellement plongé dans les naturels, les mondains et les corporels, qu'il est dans l'obscur, et qu'il en est un grand nombre qui nient l'existence du spirituel et du céleste. Si les Anciens ont employé des encens et des parfums dans les rites sacrés, cela vient de ce que l'odeur correspond à la perception, l'odeur suave, comme celle des aromates de divers genres, à une perception agréable et agréée, telle qu'est celle du vrai d'après le bien ou de La foi d'après la charité ; et même telle est la correspondance, que dans l'autre vie, toutes les fois qu'il plaît au Seigneur, les perceptions elles-mêmes sont changées en odeurs ; voir sur ce sujet ce qui a déjà été dit d'après l'expérience, numéro 925, 1514, 1517, 1518, 1519, 3577, . Quant à ce que signifient en particulier ici les aromates, la résine et le stacté, on peut le voir par les autres passages où ces mots se trouvent en général, ils signifient les vrais intérieurs dans le naturel, mais qui procèdent du bien là, car les vrais par eux-mêmes ne font point cela, mais c'est le bien qui le fait par les vrais ; de là les variétés sont selon la qualité du vrai conjoint au bien, et par conséquent selon la qualité du bien, car le bien a sa qualité par les vrais. Comme Giléad signifie le bien extérieur tel qu'est celui qui appartient aux sensuels, et qui est appelé chose agréable (volupe) numéro 4117, 4124, et que l'Egypte dans le sens bon signifie les scientifiques, qui sont les vrais externes de l'homme naturel correspondants à ce bien, ou concordants avec ce bien, numéro 1462, c'est pour cela que par les Jischmaélites de Giléad portant sur des chameaux des aromates en Egypte, il est signifié que les vrais intérieurs provenant de leurs scientifiques étaient portés vers les scientifiques qui sont signifiés par l'Egypte, et dont il va être parlé. Les vrais intérieurs sont les conclusions tirées des vrais extérieurs ou des scientifiques, car les scientifiques de l'homme naturel sont les moyens qui servent à conclure et par conséquent à examiner les intérieurs, de même que quand quelqu'un examine l'intention d'un autre dans sa physionomie, dans la vibration de la lumière de ses yeux, et dans la vie du son quand il parle, et des gestes quand il agit. Comme tels sont les vrais par lesquels le naturel de l'homme est perfectionné et aussi amendé, c'est pour cela que la guérison est attribuée aux aromates de cette sorte ; par exemple, à la résine, dans Jérémie :

« Est-ce qu'il n'y a pas de Résine balsamique en Giléad ? Est-ce qu'il n'y a pas de Médecin là ? Pourquoi la santé de mon peuple ne monte-t-elle pas ? » - Jérémie 8:22.

Dans le Même :

« Monte à Giléad, et prends de la résine, vierge fille de l'Egypte ; en vain tu as multiplié les médicaments, point de guérison pour toi. » - Jérémie 46:11.

Dans le Même :

« Tout à coup elle est tombée, Babel, et elle a été brisée ; poussez des hurlements sur elle, prenez de la résine pour sa douleur, peut-être guérira-t-elle ? » - Jérémie 51:8.

Que des choses semblables signifient des spirituels, on le voit clairement dans Jean :

« Les marchands de la terre pleureront et gémiront sur Babel, de ce que personne n'achète plus leurs marchandises ; marchandises d'or et d'argent, et de pierres précieuses, et de perles, et de fin lin, et de pourpre, et de soie, et s'écarlate, et tout bois de Thya, et tout vase d'ivoire, et tout vase de bois très-précieux, et d'airain, et de fer, et de marbre, et du cinnamome, et des parfums, et des essences, et de l'encens et du vin, et de l'huile, et de la fleur de farine, et du froment, et des bêtes de charge, et des brebis, et des chevaux, et des chariots, et des corps, et des âmes d'hommes. » - Apocalypse 18:11-12, 13.

Ces marchandises n'auraient pas été recensées d'une manière si spéciale, si chacune n'avait signifié des choses qui sont dans le Royaume du Seigneur et dans son Église, autrement ce serait des mots d'aucune valeur ; il est notoire que Babel signifie ceux qui ont détourné tout culte du Seigneur vers le culte d'eux-mêmes, et ainsi ceux qui sont dans un interne profane en même temps que dans un externe saint ; c'est pourquoi leurs marchandises signifient les choses qu'ils ont inventées avec étude et artifice pour le culte d'eux-mêmes, et aussi les doctrinaux, et les connaissances du bien et du vrai d'après la Parole, qu'ils ont perverties en leur faveur, ainsi chaque marchandise qui est mentionnée dans ce passage signifie de telles choses en particulier, et le cinnamome, les parfums, les essences de l'encens, signifient les vrais qui procèdent du bien, mais chez ceux de Babel les vrais pervertis et les faux d'après le mal. Il en est de même de ce qui est rapporté des marchandises de Tyr, dans Ézéchiel :

« Jehudah et la terre d'Israël ont été les négociants en froment de Minnith et de Pannag ; en miel et en huile, et en Résine ils ont fourni ton commerce. » - Ézéchiel 27:17.

Ici aussi la résine signifie le vrai d'après le bien ; pour celui qui ne croit pas au sens interne de la Parole toutes ces expressions doivent être des mots nus, par conséquent des vases dans l'intérieur desquels il n'y a rien, lorsque cependant il y a en eux des Divins, des célestes et des spirituels.

1038. That 'this is the sign of the covenant' means a token of the Lord's presence in charity is clear from the meaning of 'a covenant' and of 'the sign of a covenant'. That the covenant means the Lord's presence in charity has been shown already at Chapter 6:18, and above at verse 9 of the present chapter; and that a covenant is the Lord's presence in love and charity is clear from the very nature of a covenant. The purpose of any covenant is conjunction, that is to say, its purpose is that people may live together in friendship or in love. This also is why marriage is called a covenant. The Lord's conjunction with man does not exist except in love and charity, for the Lord is love itself and mercy. He wills to save everyone and by His mighty power to draw them towards heaven, that is, towards Himself. From this anyone may know and conclude that it is impossible for anybody to be joined to the Lord except by means of that which He Himself is, that is, except by acting like Him, or becoming one with Him - that is to say, by loving the Lord in return, and loving the neighbour as oneself. In this way alone is conjunction brought about; this constitutes the very essence of a covenant. When conjunction results from this, it quite plainly follows that the Lord is present. The Lord is indeed present with each individual, but that presence is closer or more remote, all depending on how near the person is to love or distant from it.

[2] Since 'the covenant' is the conjunction of the Lord with man by means of love, or what amounts to the same, the Lord's presence with man in love and charity, the covenant itself is called in the Word 'a covenant of peace', for 'peace' means the Lord's kingdom, and the Lord's kingdom consists in mutual love, in which alone peace resides, as is said in Isaiah,

The mountains will depart and the hills be removed, but My mercy will not depart from you, and the covenant of My peace will not be removed, said Jehovah, the One who takes pity on you. Isaiah 54:10.

Here mercy, which is an attribute of love, is called 'a covenant of peace'.

In Ezekiel,

I will raise up over them one shepherd, and He will pasture them - My servant David. He will pasture them and He will be a shepherd to them. And I will make with them a covenant of peace. Ezekiel 34:23, 25.

Here 'David' is plainly used to mean the Lord, and His presence with a regenerate person is described by the words 'He will pasture them'.

[3] In the same prophet,

My servant David will be king over them, and they will all have one shepherd. And I will make with them a covenant of peace; it will be an eternal covenant with them. And I will bless ¹ them and cause them to multiply, and I will set My sanctuary in their midst for evermore. And I will be their God and they will be My people. Ezekiel 37:14, 16-17.

Here similarly the Lord is meant by David. Love is meant by the 'sanctuary in their midst', the Lord's presence and conjunction in love by the promise that 'He will be their God, and they will be His people', which is called 'a covenant of peace' and 'an eternal covenant'.

In Malachi,

You will know that I have sent this command to you, that it may be My covenant with Levi, said Jehovah Zebaoth. My covenant was with him, [a covenant] of life ² and peace, and I have given them to him in fear, and he will fear Me. Malachi 2:4-5.

In the highest sense 'Levi' means the Lord, and from this the person who has love and charity; and this being so 'a covenant of life' and peace with Levi' means in love and charity.

[4] In Moses, in reference to Phinehas,

Behold, I am giving to him My covenant of peace, and it will be to him and his seed after him a covenant of eternal priesthood. Numbers 25:12-13.

Here 'Phinehas' is not used to mean Phinehas but the priesthood which he represented and which means love and what belongs to love, as does the entire priesthood of that Church. Everyone knows that the priesthood did not remain with Phinehas for ever.

In the same author,

Jehovah your God is God Himself, a faithful God who keeps a covenant and mercy with those who love Him, and who keep His commandments, to the thousandth generation. Deuteronomy 7:9, 12.

Here the Lord's presence with man in love is clearly meant by 'the covenant', for it is said to be 'with those who love Him and keep His commandments'.

[5] Because the covenant is the conjunction of the Lord with man by means of love, it follows that it is also achieved by means of all the things allied to love, which are the truths of faith and are called commandments. For all the commandments, indeed the Law and the Prophets, are based on that single law that men ought to love the Lord above all things and the neighbour as themselves. This is clear from the Lord's words in Matthew 22:35-40; Mark 12:28-34. This is also why the tablets on which the Ten Commandments were written are called 'the tablets of the covenant'. Since a covenant or conjunction is achieved by means of the laws or commandments of love it was also achieved by means of the social laws introduced by the Lord into the Jewish Church, which are called 'testimonies', as well as by the religious observances commanded by the Lord, which are called 'statutes'. All of these are called [laws] of the covenant because they have regard to love and charity.

As is said of King Josiah,

The king stood upon the pillar, and made a covenant before Jehovah, to walk after Jehovah, and to keep His commandments, and His testimonies, and His statutes, with all his heart, and all his soul, to establish the words of the covenant. 2 Kings 23:3.

[6] From these references it is now clear what a covenant is, and that the covenant is internal, for the conjunction of the Lord with man is achieved by means of internal things, and never by means of external things separated from internal. External things are merely images and representatives of those that are internal, as the action of a person is an image representative of his thought and will, and as a charitable act is an image representative of charity present within, in intention and mind. Thus all the religious observances of the Jewish Church were images representative of the Lord, and so of love and charity, and of all things deriving from these. It is by means of the internal things of a person therefore that the covenant or conjunction is achieved. External things are no more than signs of the covenant, which also is what they are called. That internal things are the means by which the covenant or conjunction is achieved is quite clear, as in Jeremiah,

Behold, the days are coming, says Jehovah, when I will make with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah a new covenant, not like the covenant which I made with their fathers, for they rendered My covenant invalid. But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days: I will put My law in the midst of them and will write it on their hearts. Jeremiah 31:31-33.

This refers to a new Church. It is plainly stated that the covenant itself is achieved by means of internal things, and indeed within conscience on which the Law is written, the whole of which Law, as stated, is that of love.

[7] That external things do not constitute the covenant unless internal things are joined to them and so through that union act as one and the same cause, but are merely 'signs of the covenant' by means of which, as by representative images, the Lord might be called to mind, is clear from the fact that the sabbath and circumcision are called 'signs' of the covenant. That the sabbath is so called is clear in Moses,

The children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, observing the sabbath throughout their generations, an eternal covenant. Between Me and the children of Israel this is a sign eternally. Exodus 31:16-17.

And that circumcision is called 'a sign of the covenant' is clear in the same author,

This is My covenant which you shall keep between Me and you and your seed after you. Every male among you is to be circumcised. And you shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin, and it will be a sign of the covenant between Me and you. Genesis 17:10-11.

For the same reason also blood is called 'the blood of the covenant', Exodus 24:7-8.

[8] The chief reason why external religious ceremonies were called signs of the covenant was so that from them people might call interior things to mind, that is, the things meant by them. All the religious observances of the Jewish Church were nothing else. For this reason they were also called signs that would serve to remind the people of interior things - for example, the practice of binding the chief commandment on the hand and of wearing frontlets, as stated in Moses,

You shall love Jehovah your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength. And you shall bind these words as a sign upon your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. Deuteronomy 6:5, 8; 11:13, 18.

Because it means power 'the hand' here means the will, for power is an attribute of the will; while 'frontlets between the eyes' means the understanding. Thus 'a sign' means calling to mind the chief commandment, or epitome of the Law, that it may be constantly in the will and constantly in the thought, that is, that the Lord and love may be present within the whole will and the whole thought. Such is the presence of the Lord and from Him of mutual love existing with angels. That constant presence and the nature of it will in the Lord's Divine mercy be discussed later on. And in like manner here the statement, 'This is the sign of the covenant which I give between Me and you; I have given My bow in the cloud, and it will be for a sign of the covenant', means no other sign than a token of the Lord's presence in charity, and so man's remembrance of Him. But in what way the bow in the cloud provides that token and so remembrance will in the Lord's Divine mercy be discussed later on.

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