10146. Before Jehovah. That this signifies from the Lord is evident from the fact that “Jehovah” in the Word denotes the Lord (see the places cited in n. 9373); that “before Jehovah” denotes from the Lord, is because “before” signifies presence, and the presence of the Lord exists in proportion to the reception of the good which is of love and of the truth which is of faith from Him; hence it is that “before the Lord” denotes from the Lord. The Lord is indeed present with every man, but He is present with the good in one way, and with the evil in another; with the good He is present in every particular they think from the truths of faith, and which they will from the good of love; and He is so present that He Himself is faith, and He Himself is love with them; consequently He is as if dwelling in them, according to the words of the Lord Himself in John:

The Spirit of truth shall abide with you, and shall be in you, and ye shall know that I am in My Father, and ye in Me, and I in you. He that hath My commandments and doeth them, he it is that loveth Me; and We will come unto him, and make Our abode with him (John 14:17-18, 20-21, 2 14:23).

[2] But with the evil the Lord is not present in every particular, because they have no faith or charity; but He is present in general, by which presence they have the faculty of thinking and willing, and also of receiving faith and charity; but only insofar as they desist from evils. Insofar as they do not desist from evils He appears absent; and the degrees of His absence are according to the absence of the truth and good of faith and of love. Thus they who are in heaven are in the presence of the Lord, but they who are in hell are in His absence.

[3] Nevertheless the fact is that the Lord is not absent from man, but man is absent from the Lord, for the man who is in evils looks backward from Him; and then the things which are before his eyes are present with him according to their affinities with the evils in which he is; for in the other life there is no space, but only the appearance of space according to the affinities of the thoughts and affections. This closely resembles the presence of the sun of this world in respect to its light and heat; the sun is equally present at all times; but when the earth turns itself from the sun, the light perishes, and shade comes on; first the shade of evening, and then the shade of night. And when the earth does not look directly to the sun, but obliquely, as in the time of winter, the heat perishes, and cold comes on, in consequence of which all things of the earth become torpid and die. This is also called the absence of the sun, when nevertheless it is the absence of the earth from the sun-not as to space, but as to the state of light and heat. This is said for the sake of illustration.

9373. Come up unto Jehovah. That this signifies conjunction with the Lord, is evident from the signification of “coming up,” as being to be raised toward interior things (see n. 3084, 4539, 4969, 5406, 5817, 6007), consequently also to be conjoined (n. 8760). That it denotes conjunction with the Lord, is because by “Jehovah” in the Word is meant the the Lord, (n. 1343, 1736, 1793, 2004, 2005, 2018, 2025, 2921, 3023, 3035, 5663, 6280, 6303, 6905, 8274, 8864, 9315). A secret which also lies hidden in the internal sense of these words, is that the sons of Jacob, over whom Moses was the head, were not called and chosen; but they themselves insisted that Divine worship should be instituted among them (according to wh at has been said in n. 4290, 4293); and therefore it is here said, “and He said unto Moses, Come up unto Jehovah,” as if not Jehovah, but another, had said that he should come up. For the same reason in what follows it is said that “the people should not go up” (verse 2); and that “Jehovah sent not His hand unto the sons of Israel who were set apart” (verse 11); and that “the appearance of the glory of Jehovah was like devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the eyes of the sons of Israel” (verse 17); and lastly that Moses, being called the seventh day, “entered into the midst of the cloud.” For by “the cloud” is meant the Word in the letter (n. 5922, 6343, 6752, 6832, 8106, 8443, 8781); and with the sons of Jacob the Word was separated from its internal sense, because they were in external worship without internal, as can be clearly seen from the fact that now, as before, they said, “all the words which Jehovah hath spoken we will do” (verse 3); and yet scarcely forty days afterward they worshiped a golden calf instead of Jehovah; which shows that this was hidden in their hearts while they were saying with their lips that they would serve Jehovah alone. But nevertheless those who are meant by “the called and the chosen” are those who are in internal worship, and who from internal worship are in external; that is, those who are in love to and faith in the Lord, and from this in love toward the neighbor.