8573. 'And Moses cried out to Jehovah, [saying]' means deep grief, and intercession. This is clear from the meaning of 'crying out' - when it refers to the Divine aid which the people demanded in their misery and grief - as deep grief, as also previously in 7782, and intercession, as in 8179. Since 'Moses cried out to Jehovah' means intercession by Divine Truth, which 'Moses' represents, what intercession is and the nature of it must be stated briefly. People who do not know what intercession is can have no other conception of it than this, that the Lord constantly prays to the Father and intercedes for the sinner who pleads in a devout manner and promises to repent. Indeed the simple think that the Lord sits with the Father and speaks to Him about a sinner, asking the Father to give Him that sinner to be in His kingdom and possess eternal happiness. An idea such as this is what very many have about intercession referred to in the Word, where it says that the Lord will entreat the Father on their behalf. But who can fail to see that human ways of thinking were being used in what was said? For everyone at that time, like very many also at the present day, could think of a heavenly kingdom only as they think of an earthly kingdom. The latter serves them to gain an idea of the former. This is plainly evident from the Lord's apostles themselves - from James and John, who asked to sit one on His right, the other on His left in His kingdom, Mark 10:35-37; and also from the rest of the apostles, among whom a quarrel arose over which of them was to be greatest in His kingdom, and to whom the Lord said that they would eat and drink at His table in His kingdom, and that they would sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel, Luke 22:24, 30, and therefore that they would reign with Him. The things He said, it is evident, were adapted to their way of thinking and so to their ability to grasp them; but in the interior sense those things had a different meaning, which could not be made known at that time. What twelve thrones with the apostles seated on them mean, see 2129, 6397.

[2] As regards the nature of intercession, all love holds intercession within it, and so does all mercy since mercy is the characteristic of love. Anyone who has love or who has mercy is interceding constantly, as the following examples demonstrate: The husband who loves his wife wishes her to be well-received and well-treated by others. He does not express his wish in actual words, but it is constantly in his thinking, so that he is silently requesting it and interceding for her. Parents do the same thing for their children whom they love. It is likewise what a person governed by charity does for his neighbour, and what one moved by friendship does for a friend. These examples show that intercession is present unceasingly in all love. The same is true of the Lord's intercession for the human race, especially for those with whom the goodness and truth of faith are present; for towards them Divine - that is, infinite - love is shown, and Divine - that is, infinite - mercy. Not that the Lord prays to the Father for them and intercedes in that way; for then He would be acting in an entirely human manner. Rather He is constantly excusing and constantly forgiving, because He is constantly showing mercy; this the Lord Himself is doing since the Lord and the Father are one, John 14:8-12.

[3] An arcanum that lies even more deeply concealed within the word 'intercession' must also be mentioned. Divine Truth which emanates from the Lord intercedes constantly in such a way because it emanates from Divine Love. While the Lord was in the world He was Divine Truth; but now that He has been glorified, which was accomplished when He rose again, He is Divine Good, 7499. Divine Good is what is meant in the Word in the internal sense by 'the Father', and Divine Truth by 'the Son', 2803, 3704, 7499. And since Divine Truth, which emanates from Divine Good, holds constant intercession within it, the Son is said to entreat the Father and to intercede for a person. People were able to grasp the latter notion of the Son, but the former idea of Divine Truth only with difficulty.

489. 'Sons and daughters' means the truths and goods which they perceived, 'sons to be exact meaning the truths and 'daughters' the goods. This becomes clear from very many places in the Prophets. For in the Word, as happened in earliest times, conceptions and births of the Church are called 'sons and daughters', as in Isaiah,

Nations will walk to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising. Lift up your eyes round about and see; they all gather and they come towards you. Your sons will come from far, and your daughters will be nursed at your side. Then you will see and abound, and your heart will be astounded and enlarged. Isaiah 60:3-5.

Here 'sons' stands for truths and 'daughters' for goods.

In David,

Rescue me and snatch me from the hand of sons of the foreigner, whose mouths speak lies. Our sons are like plants made large in their youth, our daughters like corner-pillars cut in the form of the temple. Psalms 144:11-12.

'Sons of the foreigner' stands for spurious truths, which are falsities, 'our sons' for matters of doctrine concerning truth, and 'daughters' for matters of doctrine concerning good.

In Isaiah,

I will say to the north, Give up; and to the south, Do not withhold. Bring My sons from afar and My daughters from the end of the earth. Bring forth the blind people, and they will have eyes, and the deaf, who will have ears. Isaiah 43:6, 8.

Here 'sons' stands for truths, 'daughters' for goods, 'the blind' for people who will see truths, and 'the deaf' for those who comply with them.

In Jeremiah,

From our youth shame is devouring the work of our fathers - their flocks, their herds, their sons, and their daughters. Jeremiah 3:24.

Here 'sons and daughters' stands for truths and goods.

[2] 'Male children' and 'sons' stand for truths in the following in Isaiah,

Jacob will no more be ashamed, and no more will his face grow pale. For when he sees his male children, the work of My hands, in his midst they will sanctify My name, and they will sanctify the Holy One of Jacob and stand in awe of the God of Israel. Those who err in spirit will know understanding Isaiah 29:12-24.

'The Holy One of Jacob, the God of Israel' stands for the Lord, 'male children' for regenerate people who have an understanding of good and truth, as is also explicitly stated.

In the same prophet,

Sing, O barren one, who did not bear, for the sons of her that is desolate are more than the sons of her that is married. Isaiah 54:1

'The sons of her that is desolate' stands for truths of the Primitive Church, or Church among gentiles, while 'the sons of her that is married' stands for truths of the Jewish Church.

In Jeremiah,

My tent has been laid waste, and all My cords torn away; My sons have gone away from Me, and they are not. Jeremiah 10:20.

'Sons' stands for truths.

In the same prophet,

Their sons will be as they were of old, and their congregation will be established before Me. Jeremiah 30:10

Here 'sons' stands for the truths of the Ancient Church.

In Zechariah,

I will rouse your sons, O Zion, together with your sons, O Jehovah, and I will set you as the sword of one who is powerful. Zechariah 9:13.

Here 'sons' stands for truths of faith inherent in love.