8753. 'They came to the wilderness of Sinai' means, they entered a state of good in which the truths of faith were to be implanted. This is clear from the meaning of 'the wilderness of Sinai' as a state of good in which the truths of faith are to be implanted. Here 'wilderness' is good in which truths have not as yet been implanted, and 'Sinai' is actual truths. For 'wilderness' has a number of meanings, 3900, in general what is uninhabited and uncultivated, 2708, so that in the spiritual sense it means good which as yet has no truths in it; for good without truths is spiritually uncultivated. Consequently 'wilderness' means a new will which has not as yet been formed by means of the truths of faith, 8457.

[2] As regards 'Mount Sinai', in the highest sense it means Divine Truth emanating from Divine Good, Divine Good being meant by 'mountain' and Divine Truth by 'Sinai'. In the internal sense it means the truth of faith springing from good, in this instance the truth of faith that is to be implanted in good since the Law had not as yet been declared from there. The reason why 'Mount Sinai' has these meanings is that the Law was declared from there by the Lord, and the Law is Divine Truth emanating from Divine Good, and also is the truth of faith springing from good, 6752, 7463, 8695. This explains why the children of Israel encamped in the wilderness beside this mountain; for not only the Ten Commandments, which are the Law in a restricted sense, were declared from there, but also all the statutes of the Church, which, being representative, held within themselves the spiritual and celestial truths and forms of good of the Lord's kingdom. The fact that the Law was declared from that mountain is clear from Chapter Exodus 20 below; and the fact that the statutes of the Church were as well is clear from Exodus 21 and following chapters; and Leviticus 7:37-38; 27:34. 'Sinai' has the same meaning in David,

O God, when You went out before Your people, when You marched in the wilderness, the earth trembled; the heavens also dropped [rain] before God. This Sinai [trembled] before God. the God of Israel. You cause a rain of blessings to drop down, O God. Psalms 68:7-9.

Here 'Sinai' stands for truth which springs from good, for these are meant by 'the heavens dropped [rain] before God' and by 'God dropped a rain of blessings'.

[3] In the Book of Judges,

O Jehovah, when You went forth from Seir, when You set out from the field of the earth trembled, the heavens also dropped, the clouds indeed dropped water, the mountains flowed down before Jehovah, Sinai itself before Jehovah God of Israel. In the days of Shamgar, son of Anath, in the days of Jael, the roads ceased to be, and those who went along by pathways kept to twisting roads; the streets in Israel ceased to be. They ceased until I, Deborah, arose, until I arose a mother in Israel. Judges 5:4-7.

Here also 'Sinai' stands for the Law or Divine Truth emanating from Divine Good, from which the truths of faith were implanted in the good of faith, those truths also being meant by 'the heavens dropped, and the clouds dropped water'. A lack of the truths of faith and the perversion of them is meant by 'the roads ceased to be, and those who went along by pathways kept to twisting roads', truths being meant by 'roads' or 'ways', 'pathways', and 'streets', see 627, 2333, 3123, 3477. For the theme of this prophetic song, which is the Song of Deborah and Barak, is the perversion of the Church's truth and the renewal of it.

[4] In Moses,

Jehovah came from Sinai, He dawned from Seir upon them; He shone from Mount Paran, and came out of myriads of holiness. From His right hand came a fiery law for them. Deuteronomy 33:2.

Here the children of Jacob are blessed by Moses before his death. He begins the prophetic utterance in his blessing with Jehovah came from Sinai, and in this instance 'Sinai' means the truths of faith in their entirety. The reason why he begins with these words is that all the truths and forms of the good of faith are meant by 'the children of Jacob', 3858, 3862, 3926, 3939, 6335, and in a similar way by 'the children of Israel', 5414, 5951, 5879.

3342. Furthermore spirits and angels communicate everything to others by means of representatives. By means of wonderful variations of light and shade they bring their own thoughts in a vivid way before the internal sight and at the same time before the external sight of the one with whom they are communicating, and subtly introduce those thoughts by effecting appropriate changes in his affectional state. The representations manifested in their communications with others are not like those described already, but they are produced without delay and in an instant, together with the ideas conveyed in their communications. It is like a lengthy description of something, accompanied at the same time by the presentation before the eyes of a visual image of that thing. For amazing as it is, by means of varying kinds of images that are quite beyond man's comprehension any spiritual reality at all can be set forth in representative form in which inwardly there are things that go with the perception of truth, and still more inwardly those that go with the perception of good.

[2] Such things also exist within man - for man is a spirit clothed with the body - as becomes clear from the fact that when anything spoken that is perceived by the ear rises up towards the more interior parts, it passes into mental images not unlike those of visual objects, and from these into conceptual ideas, and in this way one comes to perceive the sense of the words. Anyone who reflects on these matters properly may recognize from them that within him there is his spirit, which is his internal man, and also that he has this kind of ability to communicate following his separation from the body, for the same ability exists with him though this is not evident to him in his lifetime because of the obscurity, indeed the thick darkness brought about by earthly, physical, and worldly things.