10048. 'And you shall cut the ram into pieces' means that the interior things must be arranged into order, distinct from one another. This is clear from the meaning of 'the ram' as the good of innocence and charity in the internal man, dealt with in 10042, at this point preparation for the internal man's purification, meant by the burnt offering of the ram; and from the meaning of 'cutting into pieces' as the arrangement of the interiors there into order. The reason why preparation for the arrangement of the interiors into order is meant by 'cutting into pieces, members, and parts' is that the arranging of them is described by the requirement to put the intestines and legs on top of the pieces and of the head. By 'the intestines' are meant the lowest things, which are called the outward things of the senses, and by 'the legs' those immediately above, which are called natural things, so that by 'the pieces', which were higher still, interior things are meant, and by 'the head' inmost ones. ¹ The fact that the intestines, legs, and head mean those things will be clear from what follows below; and the fact that the organs and members of the human being mean such things arranged in order may be seen above in 10030.

[2] Since sacrifices and burnt offerings serve in the representative sense to mean the regeneration of a person, something brief must be stated about the nature of the arranging into order which takes place during regeneration. With those who are being regenerated interiors and exteriors are being arranged into order by the Lord for the purpose of all subsequent states, so much so that things in the present entail those in the future, as do things in the future when they become those in the present, and so on forever. For the Lord foresees all things and provides all things, and His Foresight and Providence looks to eternity, and so is everlasting; for the Divine nature, which He alone possesses, is in itself infinite, and what is infinite in duration is everlasting. Consequently whatever the Lord arranges into order is everlasting. This is what happens to those whom the Lord is regenerating; the regeneration of a person begins in the world and carries on forever, for when a person becomes an angel he is always being made more perfect. In the human being there are outward things, inward things, and inmost ones. All these are arranged into order simultaneously and in successive stages for the purpose of the things to be received in the subsequent states following on forever. But in what order the regeneration of outward, inner, and inmost things takes place, and the reverse, will in the Lord's Divine mercy be stated in what follows.

Poznámky pod čarou:

10022. 'Before the tent of meeting' means to purification, the reception of truth from heaven, and the joining of it to good. This is clear from the representation of 'the tent of meeting' as heaven where the Lord is, dealt with in 9457, 9481, 9485. The reason why purification, the implantation of truth, and the joining of it to good are also meant here is that the young bull was led to that place to be sacrificed, and by sacrifices not only purification but also the implantation of truth and good and joining together of them are meant. For sacrifices represented purifications from evils and falsities, and expiations, see 9990, 9991, and the place before the tent, called its door, represented the joining together of truth and good, which is called the heavenly marriage, 10001. So it is then that 'you shall bring the young bull near before the tent of meeting' means the time when the external or natural man, as this exists in its infancy, applies itself to being purified from evils and falsities, and so to receiving truth from heaven and joining it to good.

[2] Since sacrifices and burnt offerings are the subject in what follows directly after this in the present chapter, what was represented by them in general must be stated. Burnt offerings and sacrifices in general represented purification from evils and falsities; and since purification was represented, so too was the implantation of goodness and truth from the Lord, and also the joining together of them. For when a person has been purified from evils and falsities, which is brought about by the removal of them, goodness and truth from the Lord flow in; and to the extent that goodness and truth flow in, in that state, they are implanted and joined together. For the Lord is unceasingly present with goodness and truth with every person, but He is received only to the extent that evils and falsities are removed, thus to the extent that the person is purified from them. The joining together of truth and good is regeneration. From this it may be seen what burnt offerings and sacrifices in general represented; but what each represented specifically is clear from the different kinds of living creatures that were sacrificed.

[3] Because these three - purification from evils and falsities, the implantation of truth and good, and the joining together of them - were represented by sacrifices and burnt offerings, all worship springing from the truth of faith and the good of love is also meant by them, 6905, 8680, 8936; for the end in view of all worship is that a person may be purified from evils and falsities, consequently that he may have forms of goodness and truth from the Lord implanted in him, and so may be regenerated, which is accomplished by the joining together of that goodness and truth. These joined together constitute heaven or the Lord's kingdom with a person.