10506. And Jehovah said unto Moses, He that hath sinned against Me, him will I blot out of My book. That this signifies the reply, that those will perish who turn themselves away from the Divine, is evident from the signification of “Jehovah said unto Moses,” as being the reply; from the signification of “sinning against Jehovah,” as being to turn one’s self away from the Divine (see above, n. 10498); and from the signification of “being blotted out of the book of Jehovah,” as being not to appear in heaven, thus to perish in respect to the spiritual life. That this is signified by “being blotted out of the book of Jehovah,” is because those who are in things external separate from what is internal cannot receive anything from heaven; for it is the internal which receives from heaven, and the external without the internal does not receive from any other source than hell. (That heaven with man is in his internal, and that the internal is the book of life, and that what is in the internal is out of heaven from the Lord, may be seen just above, n. 10505)

9346. Lest perchance they make thee sin against Me. That this signifies lest evils turn away the goods that are from the Lord, is evident from the signification of “the inhabitants of the land,” of whom it is said “lest perchance they make thee sin,” as being evils (as above); from the signification of “to sin,” as being to turn away (n. 5474, 5841, 7589); and from the signification of “thee against Me,” as being the goods that are from the Lord; for by “the sons of Israel,” who are here meant by “thee,” are signified those who are in good, thus goods (n. 5801, 5803, 5806, 5812, 5817, 5819, 5826, 5833, 9340); and by “Jehovah,” who is here meant by “Me,” is meant the the Lord, (n. 9199, 9315). That evils turn away the goods that are from the Lord, is because evils and goods are opposites or contraries, and two opposites or contraries cannot be together, for they turn away from each other, and are in conflict. This can be plainly seen from the fact that evils are from hell, and goods from heaven; and that hell is as far as possible from heaven—not in respect to distance, because in the other life there is no distance—but in respect to state. Therefore they who are in the state of hell cannot be transferred into the state of heaven, for the evils in the former reject the goods in the latter. This is meant by the words of Abraham to the rich man:

Between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that they who would pass from hence to you cannot, neither can those who are there pass over to us (Luke 16:26);

“the great gulf” denotes the opposition and contrariety of the states of life. From all this it is evident how it is to be understood that evils turn away the goods that are from the Lord; namely, that those who are in evils not only do not receive the goods which continually flow into everyone from the Lord; but also absolutely turn them away. And therefore a man cannot possibly receive the good of heaven until he abstains from evils.