9396. And he took the book of the covenant. That this signifies the Word in the letter with which the Word in heaven has been conjoined, is evident from the signification of “the book,” as being the Word in the whole complex (of which in what follows); and from the signification of a “covenant,” as being conjunction (n. 665, 666, 1023, 1038, 1864, 1996, 2003, 2021, 6804, 8767, 8778). By “the book of the covenant” is here meant everything the Lord spoke from Mount Sinai, for it is said just above (verse 4) “and Moses wrote all the words of Jehovah.” Consequently by “the book of the covenant” in a narrow sense is meant the Word revealed to Moses on Mount Sinai, and in a wide sense the Word in the whole complex, because this is the Divine truth revealed by the Lord. And as the Lord thereby conjoins Himself with the man of the church, it is “the book of the covenant,” because “covenant” denotes conjunction.

[2] But at the present day it is not known what is the conjunction of the Lord with the man of the church through the Word, because heaven is now closed. For at the present day scarcely anyone speaks with angels and spirits, and thereby knows how they perceive the Word; when yet this was known to the ancient, and especially to the most ancient people, for it was a common thing with them to speak with spirits and angels. The reason was that in ancient times, and especially in the most ancient times, men were interior men, for they thought in the spirit almost abstractedly from the body; whereas modern men are exterior men, and think in the body almost abstractedly from the spirit. Hence it is that heaven has as it were gone away from man; for the communication of heaven is with the internal man when this can be abstracted from the body, but not with the external man immediately. Consequently the nature of the conjunction of the Lord with man through the Word is not now known.

[3] Those who think from the sensuous of the body, and not from the sensuous of the spirit, must needs conceive that the sense of the Word in heaven is such as it is in the world, that is, such as it is in the letter. If it be said that the sense of the Word in heaven is such as is the thought of the internal man, which is devoid of material ideas, that is, of worldly, bodily, and earthly ideas, this would now be a paradox; and especially if it should be said that the sense of the Word in heaven differs as much from its sense in the world (that is, in the letter), as a heavenly paradise differs from an earthly one, and as heavenly food and drink differ from earthly. How great the difference is, appears from the fact that the heavenly paradise is intelligence and wisdom; that heavenly food is all the good of love and charity; and heavenly drink all the truth of faith from this good. At the present day who would not marvel if he should hear that when mention is made in the Word of a “paradise,” a “garden,” a “vineyard,” in heaven there are perceived no paradise, garden, or vineyard; but instead of these such things as belong to intelligence and wisdom from the Lord; and that when mention is made of meat and drink, such as “bread,” “flesh,” “wine,” “water,” instead of these there are perceived in heaven such things as belong to the good of love and truth of faith from the Lord; and this not by unfoldings nor in a comparative manner, but in actuality from correspondences; because the heavenly things that pertain to wisdom, intelligence, the good of love, and the truth of faith, correspond in actuality to these earthly things. And into this correspondence was the internal man created relatively to the external man; thus heaven which is in the internal man relatively to the world which is in the external man. And such is the case in general. That in heaven the Word is understood and perceived according to correspondences, and that this sense is the internal sense, has been shown throughout in the preceding pages.

[4] He who apprehends what has just been said, can know, and in some measure perceive, that through the Word there is a conjunction of man with heaven, and through heaven with the Lord; and that without the Word there would be no conjunction. (See what has been shown on this subject in n. 2143, 7153, 7381, 8920, 9094, 9212, 9216, 9357, and in many other places.) From this it is now evident why Moses took the book of the covenant and read it before the people; and why he then sprinkled the blood on the people and said, “Behold the blood of the covenant.” This was done for the reason that in heaven the blood of the sacrifice denotes the Divine truth proceeding from the Lord, thus on our earth the Word (n. 9393). As by a “covenant” is signified conjunction, and as conjunction is effected through the Divine truth that proceeds from the Lord, that is, the Word, therefore all things that belong to the Divine truth from the Lord, or to the Word, are called a “covenant,” such as the tables on which the ten commandments were written, and also the judgments, statutes, and all other things contained in the books of Moses, and in general all things contained in the Word of both Old and New Testaments.

[5] That the tables on which the ten commandments were written were called a “covenant,” is evident from Moses:

Jehovah wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant, the ten words (Exodus 34:28).

I went up into the mountain to receive the tables of stone, even the tables of the covenant which Jehovah made with you; Jehovah gave me the two tables of stone, even the tables of the covenant. I came down from the mountain, when the mountain was burning with fire; and the two tables of the covenant were on my two hands (Deuteronomy 9:9, 11, 15).

Jehovah declared unto you His covenant, which He commanded you to do, even the ten words, which He wrote upon the tables of stone. Take heed unto yourselves, lest ye forget the covenant of Jehovah your God, which He made with you (Deuteronomy 4:13, 23).

As the two tables were deposited in the ark, which was in the middle, that is, in the inmost, of the tabernacle, therefore the ark was called “the ark of the covenant” (Numbers 10:33; 14:44; Deuteronomy 10:8; 31:9, 25-26; Josh. 3:3, 6, 8, 11, 14, 17; 4:7, 9, 18; 6:6, 8; 8:33; Judges 20:27; 1 Samuel 4:3-5; 2 Samuel 15:24; 1 Kings 3:15; 6:19; 8:1, 6; Jeremiah 3:16)

[6] That the books of Moses were called “the book of the covenant,” is evident from the finding of them by Hilkiah the priest in the temple, of which we read in the second book of the Kings:

Hilkiah the high priest found the book of the law in the house of Jehovah; and they read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant found in the house of Jehovah (2 Kings 22:7; 23:2).

[7] That the Word of the Old Testament was called a “covenant,” is evident from Isaiah:

To them that hold fast My covenant will I give in My house, and within My walls, a place and a name better than sons and daughters (Isaiah 56:4-5).

Hear ye the words of this covenant, which I commanded your fathers. Obey My voice, and do them, according to all which I command you (Jeremiah 11:2, 4).

All the ways of Jehovah are mercy and truth unto such as keep His covenant and His testimonies (Psalms 25:10).

The mercy of Jehovah is from eternity to eternity upon them that fear Him, and His righteousness to the sons of sons; to such as keep His covenant, and to those that remember His commandments (Psalms 103:17-18).

They kept not the covenant of God, and refused to walk in His law (Psalms 78:10); where the covenant of God is called “the law” of God. (That by “the law” in a wide sense is meant the whole Word; in a less wide sense the historic Word; in a narrow sense the Word written by Moses; and in the narrowest sense the ten commandments of the Decalogue, see n. 6752)

[8] That the Word of the New Testament also is a “covenant,” is evident in Jeremiah:

Behold the days come that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah. This is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, I will put My law in the midst of them, and I will write it on their heart (Jeremiah 31:31, 33).

“The house of Israel” denotes the spiritual church; and “the house of Judah,” the celestial church. And in David:

I also will make him the firstborn, high among the kings of the earth, and My covenant shall stand fast with him. My covenant will I not make vile, nor change the declaration of My lips (Psalms 89:27-28, 34);

speaking of the Lord; “My covenant shall stand fast with him” denotes the union of the Divine Itself and the Divine Human; thus also the Word, for the Lord as to the Divine Human was the Word that was made flesh, that is, man (John 1:1-3, 14).

[9] That the Divine truth or the Word is a covenant or conjunction, is because it is the Divine from the Lord, thus the Lord Himself. And therefore when the Word is received by man, the Lord Himself is received. From this it is evident that through the Word there is conjunction of the Lord with man; and because there is conjunction of the Lord with man, there is also conjunction of heaven with man, for heaven is called heaven from the Divine truth that proceeds from the Lord, consequently from what is Divine; and therefore those who are in heaven are said to be “in the Lord.” That the Divine conjoins Itself with those who love the Lord, and keep His Word, may be seen in John 14:23.

[10] From all this it can be seen that by “the blood of the covenant” is meant the conjunction of the Lord through heaven with man by means of the Word. Also in Zechariah:

I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem, and the war bow shall be cut off; and He shall speak peace unto the nations; His dominion shall be from sea to sea, and from the river even to the ends of the earth. As for thee also, through the blood of thy covenant, I will send forth thy bound ones out of the pit wherein is no water (Zech. 9:10-11).

[11] He who knows nothing of the internal sense cannot conceive here anything but what is contained in the sense of the letter; namely, that the chariot shall be cut off from Ephraim, the horse from Jerusalem, and the war bow, and finally that by “the blood of the covenant” is meant the blood of the Lord, by which those who are in sins should be set free; explaining in various ways who are meant by “the bound ones in the pit wherein is no water.” But he who is acquainted with the internal sense of the Word conceives that Divine truth is here treated of, and that after this has been laid waste, or vastated, that is, after it is no longer received in faith and heart by man, it will be restored through the truth Divine that proceeds from the Lord’s Divine Human; and thus that those who believe and do it will be conjoined with the Lord Himself. This can be more clearly seen from the internal sense of the several words of the passage; as from the signification of a “chariot” as being the doctrine of the church (n. 2760, 5321, 5945, 8215); of “Ephraim” as being the enlightened understanding of the church (n. 5354, 6222, 6238); from the signification of a “horse” as being the understanding of the Word (n. 2760-2762, 3217, 5321, 6125, 6534, 8029, 8146, 8148); and of “Jerusalem” as being the spiritual church (n. 2117, 3654, 9166); from the signification of a “bow” as being the doctrine of truth (n. 2686, 2709); and of “war” as being a combat about truths (n. 1664, 2686, 8295).

[12] From this it is evident that by “cutting off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem, and the war bow,” is signified the vastation of truth Divine in the church in respect to all the understanding of it; and that by “the bound ones in the pit wherein was no water being sent forth through the blood of the covenant,” is signified restoration through the Divine truth that proceeds from the Divine Human of the Lord. (That “blood” denotes Divine truth, and that a “covenant” denotes conjunction, has been shown above; also that “the bound ones in the pit” denote those of the spiritual church who were saved by the Lord’s coming into the world, n. 6854.) It is said “a pit wherein is no water,” because by “water” is signified truth (n. 2702, 3058, 3424, 4976, 5668, 7307, 8137, 8138, 8568, 9323).

9094. And the dead one also they shall divide. That this signifies that the injuring affection also shall be dissipated, is evident from the signification of what is “dead,” as being evil and falsity (of which above, n. 9008); consequently by “a dead ox” is signified the affection of evil and falsity in the natural man, thus an injuring affection, for evil injures by means of falsity; and from the signification of “to divide,” as being to dissipate (n. 9093). How the case is with the things contained in this verse in the internal sense can with difficulty be unfolded to the apprehension. They are such as can be comprehended by the angels, and only in some measure by men. For the angels see the arcana of the Word in the light which is from the Lord, in which light innumerable things are presented to view that do not fall into the words of speech, and not even into the ideas of thought, with men so long as they live in the body. The reason is that with men the light of heaven flows into the light of the world, and thus into such things there as either extinguish, or reject, or darken, and thus deaden it. The cares of the world and of the body are such things, especially those which flow from the loves of self and of the world. From this it is that the things which are of angelic wisdom are for the most part unutterable, and also incomprehensible.

[2] Nevertheless man comes into such wisdom after the laying aside of the body, that is, after death; but only the man who has received in the world the life of faith and charity from the Lord; for the capacity of receiving angelic wisdom is in the good of faith and of charity. That the things which the angels see and think in the light of heaven are unutterable, has been given me to know by much experience; for when I have been raised into that light, I have seemed to myself to understand all those things which the angels there spoke; but when I have been let down from thence into the light of the external or natural man, and in this light have desired to recollect the things which I had there heard, I could not express them by words, and not even comprehend them by ideas of thought, except a few, and these few obscurely; from which it is manifest that the things which are seen and heard in heaven are such as the eye hath not seen nor the ear heard.

[3] Such are the things which lie inmostly hidden in the internal sense of the Word; and it is the same with the things contained in the internal sense in this and the following verses. The things therein contained which can be explained to the apprehension are these. All truths in man have life from the affections which are of some love. Truth without life from love is like sound flowing forth from the mouth without an idea, or like the sound of an automaton. Hence it is plain that the life of man’s understanding is from the life of his will, consequently that the life of truth is from the life of good; for truth bears relation to the understanding, and good to the will. If therefore there are two truths which do not live from the same general affection, but from diverse affections, they must needs be dissipated, for they are in collision with each other. And when truths are dissipated, their affections also are dissipated; for there is a general affection under which all the truths with a man are associated together. This general affection is good. This is all that can be told about what is signified in the internal sense by the oxen of two men, one of which strikes the other so that he dies, the living ox then being sold, and the silver divided, and also the dead ox.

[4] Who that is of the church does not know that there are Divine things in each and all things of the Word? But who can see Divine things in these laws about oxen and asses falling into a pit, and about oxen striking with the horn, if they are regarded and explained merely according to the sense of the letter? Nevertheless they are Divine even in the sense of the letter, provided they are regarded and unfolded at the same time in respect to the internal sense; for in this sense each and all things of the Word treat of the Lord, of His Kingdom, and His church, thus of Divine things. For in order that anything may be Divine and holy, it must treat of Divine and holy things. The subject that is treated of effects this. The worldly and public affairs, such as are the judgments, statutes, and laws promulgated by the Lord from Mount Sinai, which are contained in this and in the following chapters of Exodus, are Divine and holy by inspiration; yet inspiration is not dictation, but is influx from the Divine. That which inflows from the Divine passes through heaven, and there is celestial and spiritual; but when it comes into the world it becomes worldly, within which is what is celestial and spiritual. From this it is plain whence and where is the Divine that is in the Word; and what is inspiration.