546. (Vers. 6.) "Et Mulier fugit in desertum," significat Ecclesiam, quae est Nova Hierosolyma, primum inter paucos. - Per "Mulierem" significatur Nova Ecclesia (533); et per "desertum" significatur ubi non vera amplius sunt; quod significetur illa primum inter paucos, est quia sequitur, "Ubi habet locum praeparatum a Deo, ut ibi alant eam diebus mille ducentis sexaginta," per, quae significatur status ejus tunc, ut interea provideatur Inter plures, usque dum crescit ad suum statutum (547). Per "desertum" in Verbo significatur (1.) Ecclesia devastata, seu in qua omnia vera Verbi falsificata sunt, qualis fuit apud Judaeos tempore Adventus Domini; (2.) Ecclesia in qua non sunt vera, quia non Verbum, qualis fuit apud Gentes probas tempore Domini; (3.) Status tentationis, in quo homo est quasi absque veris, quia circumcinctus spiritibus malis, qui inducunt tentationes, et tunc ei quasi auferunt vera.

(1.) Quod per "desertum" significetur Ecclesia devastata, seu in qua omnia vera Verbi falsificata sunt, qualis fuit apud Judaeos tempore Domini, patet ex his locis:

"Num hic vir commovens terram, tremefaciens regna, posuit orbem in Desertum," (Esaias 14:16-17);

haec de Babele.

"Super terra populi Mei spina et sentis ascendit; palatium erit Desertum," (Esaias 32:13-14);

"Vidi cum ecce Carmel Desertum, vastitas erit tota terra," (Jeremias 4:26-27);

"terra" est Ecclesia (285).

"Pastores perdiderunt Vineam Meam, redegerunt agrum desiderii Mei in Desertum solitudinis: in Deserto veniunt vastatores," (Jeremias 12:10, 12);

"Vitis plantata est in Deserto, in terra ariditatis et sitis," (Ezechiel 19:13);

"Ignis comedit habitacula Deserti," (Joel 1:19-20);

"Venit dies Jehovae; sicut hortus Eden terra ante eum, sed post eum Desertum vastitatis," (Joel 2:(1,) 3).

"Vos videte Verbum Jehovae, num Desertum fui Israeli num Terra tenebrarum," (Jeremias 2:31); ¹

"Vox clamantis in Deserto, parate viam Jehovae; complanate in Solitudine semitam Deo nostro," (Esaias 40:3).

(Praeter alibi, ut Esaias 33:9; Jeremias 3:2; 23:10; Threni 5:9; ² Hoschea 2:2-3; 13:15; Joel 4:19 (B.A. 3:19); ³ Malachias 1:3; Psalm. 107:33-34; Matthaeus 24:26; Luca 13:35).

Quod talis etiam sit Ecclesia hodie, videatur infra (566).

2. Quod per "desertum" significetur Ecclesia in qua non vera. quia non Verbum, ut apud Gentes probas tempore Domini, patet ex his locis:

"Effundetur super nos ⁴ Spiritus ex alto, tunc Desertum erit in arvum, et habitabit in Deserto judicium," (Esaias 32:15-16);

"In medio vallium fontes ponam, Desertum in stagnum aquarum; dabo in Deserto cedrum schittim, et arborem olei," (Esaias 41:18-19);

"Ponet Desertum in stagnum aquarum, et terram siccam in exitus aquarum," (Psalm. 107:35); ⁵

"Ponam in Deserto viam; in Solitudine fluvios, ad potandum populum Meum, electum Meum," (Esaias 43:19-20);

"Jehovah ponet Desertum ejus sicut Eden, et Solitudinem ejus sicut hortum Jehovae; laetitia et gaudium invenietur in ea," (Esaias 51:3);

"Stillant habitacula Deserti," (Psalm. 65:13 (B.A. Psalm. 65:12)); ⁶

"Extollant ⁷ vocem Desertum, cantent habitatores petrae," (Esaias 42:11). ⁸

3. Quod per "desertum" significetur status tentationis, quo homo est quasi absque veris, quia circumcinctus spiritibus malis, qui inducunt tentationem, et tunc quasi ei auferunt vera, patet Ex Matthaeus 4:1-3; Marcus 1:12-13; Luca 4:1-3; Ezechiel 20:34-37; ⁹ Jeremias 2:2, 6-7; Hoschea 2:13-16; ¹⁰ Psalm. 107:4-7; Deuteronomius 1:31, 33; 8:2-4, 15-16; 32:10.

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9965. 'That they may not bear iniquity and die' means the elimination of the whole of worship. This is clear from the meaning of 'bearing the iniquity', when the subject is the priestly office of Aaron and his sons, as a removal or shifting away of falsities and evils with those who are governed by good derived from the Lord, dealt with above in 9937. But when it speaks of them 'bearing iniquity and dying' the elimination of the whole of worship is meant, see 9928; for the representative worship died because nothing of it appeared any longer in heaven. The situation in all this may become clear from what has been stated and shown above in 9959-9961. They also died when they did not act in accordance with the statutes, ¹ as is evident from Aaron's sons Nadab and Abihu, who were devoured by fire from heaven when they did not take the fire of the altar to burn incense but foreign ² fire, Leviticus 10:1-2ff. 'The fire of the altar' represented God's love, thus love from the Lord, whereas 'foreign fire' represented love from hell. The elimination of worship was meant by their burning incense with this fire and their consequent death. For the meaning of 'fire' as love, see 5215, 6832, 7324, 7575, 7852.

[2] Many places in the Word state that they would bear iniquity when they did not do things in accordance with the statutes, and by this was meant damnation because sins had not been removed. Not that they themselves were condemned on account of disobeying the statutes. Rather by doing so they eliminated representative worship and in so doing represented the damnation of those who remain in their sins. For none are condemned because they fail in their performance of outward religious observances, only because of evils in the heart, thus because of failing in such observances as a result of evil in the heart. This is what 'bearing iniquity' means in the following places: In Moses,

If a soul sins and acts against any of Jehovah's commandments regarding what ought not to be done, ³ though he does not know it, yet he will be guilty and will bear his iniquity. Leviticus 5:17-18.

Here the retention of evils and consequent damnation should not be understood literally by 'bearing iniquity', although that is the spiritual meaning; for it says 'though he does not know it', implying that what the person has done does not spring from evil in the heart.

[3] In the same author,

If any of the flesh of the sacrifice of his peace offering is eaten at all on the third day, the one offering it will not be accepted. It is an abomination, and the soul that eats it will bear his iniquity, and will be cut off from his people. Leviticus 7:18; 19:7-8.

Here also 'bearing iniquity' means remaining in his sins and being as a result in a state of damnation. It does so not because the person ate some of his sacrifice on the third day, but because 'eating it on the third day' represented something abominable, namely an action leading to damnation. Thus 'bearing iniquity and being cut off from his people' represented the damnation of those who performed the abomination meant by that deed. Nevertheless there was no condemnation on account of his having eaten it, for interior evils that were represented are what condemn, not exterior actions in which those evils are not present.

[4] In the same author,

Every soul who eats a carcass ⁴ or that which has been torn, and does not wash his clothes and bathe his flesh shall bear his iniquity. Leviticus 17:15-16.

Since 'eating a carcass or that which has been torn' represented making evil or falsity one's own, the expression 'bearing iniquity' also has a representative meaning. In the same author,

If a man who is clean fails to keep the Passover, this soul shall be cut off from his people, because he did not bring the offering of Jehovah at its appointed time; he shall bear his sin. Numbers 9:13.

'The Passover' represented deliverance by the Lord from damnation, 7093 (end), 7867, 7995, 9286-9292; and 'the Passover supper' represented being joined to the Lord through the good of love, 7836, 7997, 8001. And since these things were represented it was decreed that anyone who did not keep the Passover should be cut off from his people and that he should bear his sin. The failure to keep it was not really so great a crime; rather it represented those who at heart refuse to accept the Lord and consequently deliverance from sins, and so who have no wish to be joined to Him through love. Thus it represented their damnation.

[5] In the same author,

The children of Israel shall not come near the tent of meeting, or else they will bear iniquity and die. ⁵ Levites shall perform the work of the tent of meeting, and these shall bear the iniquity. Numbers 18:22-23.

The reason why the people would bear iniquity and die if they were to go near the tent of meeting to do the work there was that they would thereby eliminate the representative worship assigned to the function of the priests. The function of the priests or the priestly office represented the Lord's entire work of salvation, 9809; and this is why it says that the Levites, who also were priests, should bear the people's iniquity, by which expiation or atonement was meant, that is, removal from evils and falsities with those who are governed by good derived from the Lord alone, 9937. 'Bearing iniquity' means real damnation when this expression is used in reference to those who perform evil deeds because their heart is evil, such as those mentioned in Leviticus 20:17, 19-20; 24:15-16; Ezekiel 18:20; 23:49; and elsewhere.

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