7042. 'And Jehovah came to meet him' means opposition. This is clear from the meaning of 'coming to meet' as opposition, opposition to the establishment of any Church among that nation. Opposition to the Divine is what is meant when it says that Jehovah came to meet him. To judge from the sense of the letter it seems as though Jehovah or the Divine was the opposer, since it says 'Jehovah came to meet him'. But the internal sense is that it was an opposition to the Divine; for the Divine never places Himself in opposition to anyone. Rather it is the person or nation who place themselves in opposition to the Divine; and when they do so it seems, because they cannot abide the Divine, as though there were resistance from the Divine. What this is like may be recognized from those who enter the next life and wish to enter heaven, yet are not the kind of people who can stay there. When their wish is granted and they are on their way, near the entrance to heaven, they seem to themselves to be like monsters and begin to feel pain and torment because they cannot abide the truth and goodness that are there. They think that heaven and the Divine have placed themselves in opposition to them, when in fact they are the ones, having an opposite attitude of mind, who bring it on themselves. From this one may also see that the Divine does not place Himself in opposition to anyone, but that it is a person who places himself in opposition to the Divine.

In most cases, "mouth" in the Bible represents thought and logic, especially the kind of active, concrete thought that is connected with speech. The reason for this is pretty obvious, but it also holds when people, for instance, remove a stone from the mouth of a well, which represents gaining access to spiritual ideas. The mouth is used for eating as well as speaking, of course. In those circumstances, it represents our first, most external perception of a new spiritual idea or desire. This also makes sense, mirroring the way tasting food in the mouth gives us an instant impression of the quality of the food.