9856. Verses 15-30 And you shall make a breastplate of judgement, with the work of a designer; like the work of the ephod you shall make it; from gold, violet, and purple, and twice-dyed scarlet, and fine twined linen you shall make it. It shall be square when doubled, ¹ a span the length of it, and a span the breadth of it. And you shall adorn it with settings of stones. ² There shall be four rows of stones, the order being, A ruby, a topaz, a carbuncle - one row; and the second row, A chrysoprase, a sapphire, and a diamond; and the third row, A lapis lazuli, an agate, and an amethyst; and the fourth row, A tarshish, ³ and a shoham, ⁴ and a jasper. Enclosed in gold shall they be in their settings. And the stones shall be according to the names of the sons of Israel, twelve according to their names; with the engravings of a signet, each according to its name, they shall be for the twelve tribes. And you shall make on the breastplate small chains on the border ⁵ with the work of slender rope, ⁶ from pure gold. And you shall make on the breastplate two rings of gold, and put the two rings on the two ends of the breastplate. And you shall put the two slender ropes of gold in the two rings at the ends of the breastplate. And the two ends of the two slender ropes you shall put into the two sockets, and put them onto the shoulders of the ephod before the face of it. And you shall make two rings of gold, and place them on the two ends of the breastplate, on the edge of it which is on this side of the ephod, inwards. And you shall make two rings of gold, and put them on the two shoulders of the ephod, below before the face of it, against the join above the girdle of the ephod. And they shall tie the breastplate from its rings to the rings of the ephod with a cord of violet, so that it is above the girdle of the ephod and the breastplate will not come away from upon the ephod. And Aaron shall carry the names of the sons of Israel in the breastplate of judgement over his heart, when he goes into the holy place, for a remembrance before Jehovah continually. And you shall put into the breastplate of judgement the Urim and Thummim; and they shall be over Aaron's heart, when he goes in before Jehovah. And Aaron shall carry the judgement of the children of Israel over his heart before Jehovah continually.

'And you shall make a breastplate of judgement' means that which has regard to Divine Truth shining forth from Divine Good. 'With the work of a designer' means a product of the understanding. 'Like the work of the ephod you shall make it' means a continuation from the outermost part of the spiritual kingdom. 'From gold, violet, and purple, and twice-dyed scarlet, and fine twined linen you shall make it' means the good of charity and faith. 'It shall be square when doubled' means that which is righteous and perfect. 'A span the length of it, and a span the breadth of it' means equally in respect of good and in respect of truth. 'And you shall adorn it with settings of stones' means the actual truths in their proper order, all springing from the one same good. 'There shall be four rows of stones, the order being' means all of them joined together. 'A ruby, a topaz, a carbuncle' means the celestial love of good. 'One row' means a group of three there existing as one. 'And the second row' means this group of three also existing as one. 'A chrysoprase, a sapphire, and a diamond' means the celestial love of truth, from which the things that follow spring. 'And the third row' means a group of three here also existing as one. 'A lapis lazuli, an agate, and an amethyst' means the spiritual love of good. 'And the fourth row' means a last group of three existing as one. 'A tarshish, and a shoham, and a jasper' means the spiritual love of truth, in which higher things terminate. 'Enclosed in gold shall they be in their settings' means that all of them in general and each in particular must emanate from the good belonging to the love that is received from the Lord and shown to the Lord. 'And the stones shall be according to the names of the sons of Israel' means forms of good and truths arranged distinctly and separately in accord with their entire essential nature. 'Twelve according to their names' means each one without exception. 'With the engravings of a signet' means in accord with the heavenly pattern. 'Each according to its name' means for each one in particular. 'They shall be for the twelve tribes' means for all in general. 'And you shall make on the breastplate small chains on the border' means all heaven joined together in the most external parts. 'With the work of slender rope' means an indissoluble joining together. 'From pure gold' means through celestial good. 'And you shall make on the breastplate two rings of gold' means a sphere of Divine Good, a sphere through which there is a joining to the higher part of heaven. 'And put the two rings on the two ends of the breastplate' means in the most external parts. 'And you shall put the two slender ropes of gold in the two rings' means the mode of the indissoluble joining together. 'At the ends of the breastplate' means in the most external parts. 'And the two ends of the two slender ropes you shall put into the two sockets' means the mode by which it is joined to the supports in the most external parts. 'And put them onto the shoulders of the ephod' means the support given thereby to heaven, and the preservation of the good and truth there by all exertion and power. 'Before the face of it' means to eternity. 'And you shall make two rings of gold' means a sphere of Divine Good. 'And place them on the two ends of the breastplate' means in the most external parts. 'On the edge of it which is on this side of the ephod, inwards' means the joining to and preservation of the middle part. 'And you shall make two rings of gold' means a sphere of Divine Good. 'And put them on the two shoulders of the ephod, below' means the preservation of good and truth in the lowest part of heaven. 'Before the face of it' means to eternity. 'Against the join above the girdle of the ephod' means where the joining together of all things is accomplished, immediately within the outward bond holding everything in connection and form. 'And they shall tie the breastplate from its rings to the rings of the ephod' means the joining to and preservation of everything in heaven by means of the sphere of Divine Good in the outermost parts of the spiritual kingdom. 'With a cord of violet' means through the celestial love of truth. 'So that it is above the girdle of the ephod' means in order that it may be preserved for evermore in its connection and form. 'And the breastplate will not come away from upon the ephod' means that all things in heaven are inseparable from the outermost parts of the spiritual kingdom. 'And Aaron shall carry the names of the sons of Israel' means the preservation of good and truth, of their entire essential nature imparted to them by the Lord. 'In the breastplate of judgement' means that which is representative of heaven in respect of the Divine Truth shining forth from the Lord's Divine Good. 'Over his heart' means out of Divine Love to eternity. 'When he goes into the holy place' means in all worship. 'For a remembrance before Jehovah continually' means out of mercy to eternity. 'And you shall put into the breastplate of judgement the Urim and Thummim' means the radiance of Divine Truth from the Lord in last and lowest things. 'And they shall be over Aaron's heart' means out of the Divine Good of His Divine Love. 'When he goes in before Jehovah' means in all worship. 'And Aaron shall carry the judgement of the children of Israel' means Divine Truth in heaven and the Church. 'Over his heart before Jehovah continually' means for evermore shining forth from good.

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2715. Two arcana exist here, the first being that, compared with the good of the celestial man, that of the spiritual man is obscure, the second that this obscurity is brightened by light from the Lord's Divine Human. As regards the first of these - that the good residing with the spiritual man is obscure compared with the celestial man's - this may be seen from what has been stated above in 2708 about the state of the spiritual man in comparison with that of the celestial man. From a comparison of the two states the fact of that obscurity is quite evident. With those who are celestial good itself exists implanted in the will part of their mind, and from there light enters the understanding part. But with those who are spiritual the whole of the will part is corrupted, so that they have no good at all from there, and therefore the Lord implants good in the understanding part of their mind, see 863, 875, 895, 927, 928, 1023, 1043, 1044, 2124, 2256. The will part is, in the main, the part of man's mind that possesses life, whereas the understanding part receives life from the will. Since therefore the will part in the case of the spiritual man is so corrupted as to be nothing but evil, and yet evil is flowing in from there unceasingly and constantly into the understanding part, that is, into his thought, it is clear that the good there is obscure compared with the celestial man's good.

[2] As a consequence those who are spiritual do not have love to the Lord, as those who are celestial do; nor therefore does that humility exist with them which is essential in all worship and by means of which good can flow in from the Lord; for a heart that is haughty is not at all receptive, only one that is humble. Nor do those who are spiritual have love towards the neighbour, as those who are celestial do, because self-love and love of the world are constantly flowing in from the will part of their mind, bringing obscurity into the good that goes with that love towards the neighbour. This may also become clear to one who reflects from the fact that when he helps another he does so for worldly reasons; thus though he may not consciously have it in mind he is nevertheless thinking about what he will get in return either from those he helps or in the next life from the Lord, which being so his good is still defiled with merit-seeking. It may also become clear to him from the fact that when he has done anything good and is able to speak about it to others and so set himself up above others, he is in his element. But those who are celestial love the neighbour more than they love themselves, and do not ever think about repayment or in any way set themselves up above others.

[3] The good residing with those who are spiritual is in addition made obscure by persuasive beliefs that are the product of various assumptions, which likewise have their origin in self-love and love of the world. For the nature of their persuasive beliefs even in matters of faith, see 2682, 2689 (end). This too is a product of the influx of evil from the will part of their mind.

[4] It may in addition become clear that the good residing with the spiritual man is obscure compared with the celestial man's, from the fact that he does not know what truth is, as those who are celestial do, from any perception. Instead he knows what truth is from what he has learned from parents and teachers, and also from the doctrine into which he was born. And when he adds to this anything from himself and from his own thinking, it is for the most part the senses and the illusions of the senses, also the rational and the appearances present within the rational, that predominate, and these make it barely possible for him to acknowledge any pure truth like that acknowledged by those who are celestial. But in spite of this, within things that are seemingly true the Lord implants good, even though these truths are mere illusions or else appearances of truth. But this good is made obscure by such truths, for it derives its specific nature from the truths to which it is joined. It is like the light of the sun falling upon objects. The nature of the objects receiving the light causes the light to be seen within those objects in the form of colours, which are beautiful if the nature of the recipient form and the manner of its receiving are fitting and correspondent, hideous if the nature of the recipient form and the manner of its receiving are not fitting and so not correspondent. In the same way good itself acquires a specific nature from the truth [to which it is joined].

[5] The same arcanum is also evident from the fact that the spiritual man does not know what evil is. He scarcely believes that any other evils exist than actions contrary to the Ten Commandments. Of evils present in affection and thought, which are countless, he has no knowledge nor does he reflect on them or call them evils. All delights whatever that go with evil desires and pleasures he does not regard as other than good; and the actual delights that are part of self-love he both pursues, approves of, and excuses, without knowing that such things have an effect on his spirit and that he becomes altogether such in the next life.

[6] From this it is in a similar way clear that although the whole of the Word deals with scarcely any other matter than the good which goes with love to the Lord and love towards the neighbour, the spiritual man does not know that that good is the sum and substance of faith, nor even what the essential nature of love and charity is. It is also clear that though something which is a matter of faith may be known to him - faith being considered by him to be essential in itself - he nevertheless discusses whether it is true, unless he has been confirmed by much experience of life. Those who are celestial do not discuss the same because they know and have a perception that it is true hence the Lord's statement in Matthew,

Let your words be, Yes, yes; No, no; anything beyond this is from evil. ¹ Matthew 5:37.

For those who are celestial are immersed in the truth itself about which those who are spiritual dispute. Consequently because those who are celestial are immersed in the truth itself, they are able to see from it numberless facets of that truth, and so from light to see so to speak heaven in its entirety. But those who are spiritual, because they dispute whether it is true, cannot - so long as they do so - arrive at the remotest boundary of the light existing with those who are celestial, let alone behold anything from their light.

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