2342. And baked unleavened [bread]. That this signifies purification, is evident from the signification of “unleavened” or “unfermented.” In the Word “bread” signifies in general all celestial and spiritual food, thus celestial and spiritual things in general (see n. 276, 680, 1798, 2165, 2177). That these should be free from everything impure was represented by bread without leaven; for “leaven” signifies that which is evil and false, by which celestial and spiritual things are rendered impure and profane. On account of this representation it was commanded those who were of the Representative Church that in their sacrifices they should not offer any other bread, that is, meat-offering, than that which was unfermented or unleavened; as is evident in Moses:

No meat-offering which ye shall bring to Jehovah shall be made with leaven (Leviticus 2:11).

Again:

Thou shalt not sacrifice the blood of My sacrifice with what is leavened (Exodus 23:18; 24:25).

[2] And it was therefore also commanded, that on the seven days of the Passover they should not eat any other than unfermented or unleavened bread, as stated in Moses:

Seven days shall ye eat unleavened [bread]; even on the first day ye shall cause leaven to cease from your houses; for whosoever eateth what is leavened, from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from Israel. In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, at even, ye shall eat unleavened [bread], until the one and twentieth day of the month at even; seven days shall no leaven be found in your houses; for whosoever eateth what is leavened, that soul also shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he be a sojourner or born in the land (Exodus 12:15, 18-20; and elsewhere, as Exodus 13:6-7; 23:15; 34:18; Deuteronomy 16:3-4).

Hence the Passover is called the “Feast of Unleavened Bread” (Leviticus 23:6; Numbers 28:16-17; Matthew 26:17; Luke 22:1, 7).

[3] That the Passover represented the Lord’s glorification, and thereby the conjunction of the Divine with the human race, will of the Lord’s Divine mercy be shown elsewhere; and as the Lord’s conjunction with the human race is effected through love and charity and the faith thence derived, these celestial and spiritual things were represented by the unleavened bread that they were to eat on the day of the Passover; and lest these things should be contaminated by anything profane, that which was leavened was so severely interdicted that whoever should eat of it was to be cut off; for whoever profanes celestial and spiritual things cannot fail to perish. Everyone can see that apart from this secret meaning, this ceremonial, to which there was attached so severe a penalty, would never have been given.

[4] Everything that was commanded in that church represented some secret thing, even the very cooking, as was the case with every particular of what the sons of Israel did when they went forth from Egypt; to wit:

They shall eat on that night flesh roasted with fire, and unleavened bread upon bitter herbs; they shall not eat it raw, nor boiled in water; the head shall be on the legs; they shall not leave of it until the morning, but shall burn the residue with fire (Exodus 12:8-10).

These particulars, namely, that they should eat it by night, the flesh roasted with fire, the unleavened bread upon bitter herbs, the head on the legs, not raw, nor boiled in water, that they should not leave of it until the morning, and that they should burn the residue with fire, were representative. But the arcana represented cannot possibly appear unless disclosed by the internal sense; it is from this sense alone that it can be seen that all things are Divine.

[5] In like manner with the ritual in regard to the Nazirite:

The priest shall take the boiled shoulder of a ram, and one unleavened cake out of a basket, and one unleavened wafer, and shall put them upon the palms of the Nazirite, after he has shaved his nazariteship (Numbers 6:19).

He who does not know that the Nazirite represented the celestial man himself, does not know that celestial things, thus arcana which do not appear in the letter, are enfolded within all these particulars, namely, the boiled shoulder of a ram, the unleavened cake, the unleavened wafer, and the shaving of the hair; which shows what kind of an opinion concerning the Word must be formed by those who do not believe that it contains an internal sense; for without what is internal these are particulars of no moment: whereas when the ceremonial or ritual is removed, everything there becomes Divine and holy. The same is the case with everything else, as here with the unleavened bread, which denotes the holy of love, or a holy of holies, as it is likewise called in Moses:

The unleavened bread that is left shall be eaten by Aaron and his sons in a place of holiness, for it is a holy of holies (Leviticus 6:16-17).

The “unleavened bread” therefore denotes pure love; and the “baking of what is unleavened” denotes purification.

934. That “cold” signifies no love, or no charity and faith, and that “heat” or “fire” signifies love, or charity and faith, is evident from the following passages in the Word.

In John it is said to the church in Laodicea:

I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot; I would thou wert cold or hot; so because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of My mouth (Revelation 3:15-16); where “cold” denotes no charity, and “hot” much charity.

In Isaiah:

Thus hath Jehovah said unto me, I will be still, and I will behold in My place; like the clear heat upon the light, like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest (Isaiah 18:4),

where the subject is the new church to be planted; “heat upon the light” and “heat of harvest” denote love and charity. Again:

Saith Jehovah, whose fire is in Zion, and His furnace in Jerusalem (Isaiah 31:9),

where “fire” denotes love. Of the cherubim seen by Ezekiel it is said:

As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like burning coals of fire, like the appearance of torches; it went up and down among the living creatures; and the fire was bright, and out of the fire went forth lightning (Ezekiel 1:13).

[2] And again it is said of the Lord, in the same chapter:

And above the expanse that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone; and upon the likeness of a throne was a likeness as the appearance of a man above upon it; and I saw as the appearance of burning coal, as the appearance of fire within it round about, from the appearance of His loins and upward; and from the appearance of His loins and downward I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and there was brightness round about Him (Ezekiel 1:26-27; 8:2).

Here again “fire” denotes love.

In Daniel:

The Ancient of days did sit; His throne was flames of fire, and the wheels thereof burning fire; a fiery stream issued and came forth from before Him, a thousand thousands ministered unto Him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him (Daniel 7:9-10).Here “fire” denotes the Lord’s love.

In Zechariah:

For I, saith Jehovah, will be unto her a wall of fire round about (Zechariah 2:5),

where the new Jerusalem is treated of.

In David:

Jehovah maketh His angels spirits, His ministers a flaming fire (Psalms 104:4),

“a flaming fire” denoting the celestial spiritual.

[3] Because “fire” signified love, fire was also made a representative of the Lord, as is evident from the fire on the altar of burnt-offering which was never to be extinguished (Leviticus 6:12-13), representing the mercy of the Lord. On this account, before Aaron went in to the mercy-seat, he was to burn incense with fire taken from the altar of burnt-offering (Leviticus 16:12-14). And for the same reason, that it might be signified that worship was accepted by the Lord, fire was sent down from heaven and consumed the burnt-offering (as in Leviticus 9:24, and elsewhere). By “fire” is also signified in the Word self-love and its cupidity, with which heavenly love cannot agree; and therefore the two sons of Aaron were consumed by fire, because they burned incense with strange fire (Leviticus 10:1-2). “Strange fire” is all the love of self and of the world, and all the cupidity of these loves. Moreover, heavenly love appears to the wicked no otherwise than as a burning and consuming fire, and therefore in the Word a consuming fire is predicated of the Lord, as the fire on Mount Sinai, which represented the love, or mercy, of the Lord, and that was seen by the people as a consuming fire, and therefore they desired Moses not to let them hear the voice of Jehovah God, and see that great fire, lest they should die (Deuteronomy 18:16). The love or mercy of the Lord has this appearance to those who are in the fire of the loves of self and of the world.