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.

6674. 'Of whom the name of the one was Shiphrah, and the name of the other Puah' means the nature and state of the natural where that factual knowledge resided. This is clear from the meaning of 'the name' as the essential nature, dealt with in 144, 145, 1896, 2009, and also the state, 1946, 2643, 3422, 4298. For the names contained in the Word all serve to mean different realities, each name embodying in a nutshell all the characteristics, thus the nature and state of that reality to which it refers. Here therefore the names Shiphrah and Puah mean the nature and state of the natural where true factual knowledge resides since this is the reality to which those names refer, as is evident from what appears immediately before this in 6673. A person who is unaware of the fact that a name serves to mean the nature and state of the reality to which it refers can only think that no more than the name is meant when that name is mentioned.

[2] Thus he can only think that when the Lord speaks of His name no more than this is meant, when in fact what is meant is the essential nature of the worship of Him, that is to say, every aspect of faith and charity through which He is to be worshipped, as in Matthew,

Where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them. Matthew 18:20.

Not the name is meant here, but worship flowing from faith and charity. In John,

As many as received Him, to them He gave power to be sons of God, to those believing in His name. John 1:12.

Here also 'name' is used to mean faith and charity from which the Lord is worshipped. In the same gospel,

These things have been written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name. John 20:31.

Here the meaning is similar.

[3] In the same gospel,

If you ask anything in My name, I will do it. John 14:13-14.

And elsewhere,

Whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give it to you. John 15:16-17; 16:23-24.

The real meaning here is not that they were to ask the Father in the Lord's name, but that they were to ask the Lord Himself. For no access lies open to Divine Good, which is the Father, 3704, except through the Lord's Divine Human, as the various Churches also well know. This being so, asking the Lord Himself is a request made in accordance with the truths of faith; and if the request is indeed made in accord with them it is granted, as He Himself also says in the place in John quoted immediately before - If you ask anything in My name, I will do it. This matter is made even clearer by the fact that the Lord is meant by Jehovah's 'name', when mentioned as follows in Moses,

I send an angel before you to guard you on the way. Take notice of His face, and hearken to His voice, and do not provoke Him, since My name is in the midst of Him. Exodus 23:20-21.

[4] In John,

Father, glorify Your name. A voice came from heaven, I have both glorified it and will glorify it again. John 12:28.

In the same gospel,

I have manifested Your name to the men (homo) whom You gave to Me out of the world. I made known to them Your name, and I will make it known, that the love with which You have loved Me may be in them, and I in them. John 17:6, 26.

From these quotations it is evident that the Lord's Divine Human is Jehovah's name or whole essential nature. Consequently all Divine worship begins in the Divine Human; and the Divine Human is what one is to worship, for by worshipping this one worships the Divine Himself, no thought of whom can otherwise be formed. And if no such thought can be formed, there can be no communion with Him either.

[5] The truth that the Lord's 'name' is everything constituting the faith and love through which He is to be worshipped is still further evident from the following places: In Matthew,

You will be hated by everyone for My name's sake. Matthew 10:22.

In the same gospel,

He who receives one little child like this in My name receives Me. Matthew 18:5.

In the same gospel,

Everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or fields, for My name's sake, will receive a hundredfold. Matthew 19:29.

In the same gospel,

They shouted, Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord. Matthew 21:9.

In Luke,

Truly I tell you; for you will not see Me until [the time] comes so that you say, Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Luke 13:35.

In Mark,

Whoever gives you drink from a cup of water in My name because you are Christ's, truly I say to you, he will not lose his reward. Mark 9:41.

In Luke,

The seventy returned with joy, saying, Lord, even the demons are obedient to us in Your name. Jesus said to them, Do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are obedient to you, but rejoice rather that your names have been written in heaven. Luke 10:17, 20.

'Names written in heaven' are not those people's their faith and charity.

[6] Much the same is meant by 'names written in the Apocalypse,

You have a few names also in Sardis, who have not soiled their garments. He who conquers will be clad in white garments and I will not blot his name out of the book of life; and I will confess his name before the Father and before His angels. Revelation 3:4-5.

Like wise in John,

The one entering by the door is the shepherd of the sheep; he calls his own sheep by name. John 10:2-3.

In Exodus,

Jehovah said to Moses, I know you by name. Exodus 33:12, 17.

In John,

Many believed in His name, seeing His signs which He did. John 2:13.

[7] In the same gospel,

He who believes in Him is not judged: but he who does not believe is judged already because he has not be lifted in the name of the only begotten Son of God. John 3:18.

In Isaiah,

They will fear the name of Jehovah from the west. Isaiah 59:19.

In Micah,

All the peoples walk in the name of their God and we will walk in the name of our God. Micah 4:5.

In Moses it says they were to worship Jehovah God in the place which He would choose and in which He would put His name. Deuteronomy 12:5, 11, 14. Similar phrases occur in Isaiah 18:7 and Jeremiah 7:12, and in many other places besides these, such as Isaiah 26:8, 13; 41:25; 43:7; 49:1; 50:10; 52:5; 26:16; Ezekiel 20:14, 44; 36:21-23; Micah 5:4; Malachi 1:11; Deuteronomy 10:8; Revelation 2:17; 3:12; 13:8; 14:11; 15:2; 17:8; 19:12-13, 16; 22:3-4.

[8] The fact that Jehovah's name means everything involved in the worship of Him, thus in the highest sense everything that goes out from the Lord, is clear in the Blessing,

Jehovah bless you and keep you;

Jehovah make His face shine upon you and be merciful to you;

Jehovah lift up His face upon you and give you peace.

So shall they put My name upon the sons of Israel. Numbers 6:23-27.

From all this one may now see what is meant by the following commandment in the Decalogue,

You shall not take the name of your God in vain, for Jehovah will not hold him innocent who has taken His name in vain. Exodus 20:7.

One may likewise see what is meant in the Lord's Prayer by hallowed be Your name, Matthew 6:9.