10559. 'And Moses said to Jehovah' means annoyance that the Divine, and so the Church itself, does not reside with them. This is clear from the meaning of 'saying' here as annoyance, for it includes what comes after it, this being what he actually said; and what comes after it is an expression of annoyance because the Divine was not willing to reside with them. That being so, the Church would not reside with them to make them more distinguished than all who are on the face of the earth, as is evident from verse 16 below. The reason why Moses' words to Jehovah were an expression of annoyance because of this was that Moses now represents the head of the Israelite nation, see above in 10556; therefore he speaks on behalf of himself and of that nation, for in verse 16 he says 'I and the people'. And since he now represents that nation as its head, the words 'Moses said to Jehovah' mean annoyance, for anyone who is by nature like that nation is annoyed with God if he does not attain his desires.

[2] This is how all whose interest lies in external things devoid of what is internal behave; for if they revere and worship God, and seem to love Him, they do so not for His sake but their own. Their only desire is for pre-eminence over others and greater wealth than others. This burning desire is what moves them to revere, worship, and seemingly love Him. But if they do not obtain the things they desire they forsake God. The fact that that nation was like this is plainly evident from the historical narratives in the Word. The following words spoken by Jacob have a similar meaning,

Jacob made a vow, saying, If God will be with me, and guard me on this road on which I am walking, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear, and I come back in peace to my father's house, then Jehovah will be my God. Genesis 28:20-21.

The import of these words is that if he received those things he would acknowledge Jehovah as his God, but if he did not receive them he would not do so. Of such a mind also was the nation descended from him. This explains why that nation forsook Him so many times and worshipped other gods, till at length they were for that reason expelled from the land of Canaan, first the Israelite nation and afterwards the Jewish.

[3] It is evident that the cause of the annoyance referred to above lay in the fact that they would not become more distinguished than all throughout the whole world if Jehovah did not go with them. Another cause of that annoyance was that the Church itself would not exist among them, which follows from this, that being led by Jehovah into the land of Canaan means being made a Church. The reasons for this are that the Church had existed in the land of Canaan since most ancient times, and that the Word could not have been written anywhere else than in that land, thus among the nation that possessed it, and the place where the Word exists is where the Church exists. The Word could not have been written anywhere else than there because all the places throughout the whole of that land, and those around it - the mountains, valleys, rivers, forests, and everything else - had become representative of celestial and spiritual realities, and the literal sense of the Word in both the historical sections and the prophetical parts must of necessity consist of such representative things. It must do so because the interiors of the Word, which are celestial and spiritual, terminate in such things and so to speak rest on them like a house on its foundations. For unless the Word as to its literal sense, which is the last and lowest level of it, rested on those things it would be like a house without foundations. The truth of this is evident from the Word, in that references are made so many times to places in that land, all of which, having become representative, are signs for the realities of heaven and the Church.

[4] All this explains why being led into the land of Canaan means the establishment of the Church and why Moses' annoyance has to do with the same thing, though nothing of that was in his mind.

The Church had existed in the land of Canaan since most ancient times, and for this reason all the places there became representative, see 3686, 4447, 4454, 4516, 4517, 5136, 6306, 6516, 8317, 9320, 9325.

For the same reason 'the land of Canaan' in the Word means the Church, in the places referred to in 9325.

1965. This then is the internal sense of the details in this chapter concerning Abram, Hagar, and Ishmael. Yet how inexhaustible that sense is, that is, how limitless the details it contains, may be seen from the single consideration that, as every single thing in the Word looks in the internal sense to the Lord and has the Lord as its subject, the life of the Word, being the Word itself, arises out of this. In addition every single thing has at the same time in the internal sense the Lord's kingdom in heaven as its subject, and also His kingdom on earth, which is the Church. And in a similar way it has as its subject each individual who has the Lord's kingdom within him, besides having in general everything celestial or spiritual as its subject. For the Lord is the source of all these things, and this accounts for Abram's also representing the celestial Church, the celestial man, as well as the celestial itself, and so on. To extend the explanation any further however would take much too long.