9416. 'And I will give you tablets of stone' means the book of the law, or the Word in its entirety. This is clear from the meaning of 'tablets' as objects on which matters of doctrine and life have been inscribed, in this instance matters of heavenly doctrine and of life in keeping with it. The reason why those tablets mean the book of the law or the Word in its entirety is that the things which had been inscribed on them contained in a general way all matters of life and of that heavenly doctrine. This also explains why the things inscribed on them are called the ten words, Exodus 34:28; Deuteronomy 10:4. For 'ten' in the internal sense means all, and 'words' means truths that are matters of doctrine and forms of good that are matters of life. For the meaning of 'ten' as all, see 3107, 4638, 8468, 8540, and for that of 'words' as truths and forms of good that are matters of life and doctrine, 1288, 4692, 5272. This is why those tablets mean the Word in its entirety, just as the Law does, which in a restricted sense means the things which had been inscribed on those tablets, in a less restricted sense the Word that was written through Moses, in a broad sense the historical section of the Word, and in the broadest sense the Word in its entirety, see what has been shown in 6752. Furthermore the things which had been inscribed on those tablets belonged to the first stage in the revelation of Divine Truth; they were also declared in actual words uttered by the Lord before all the Israelite people. What belongs to the first stage means all the rest in their proper order; and the fact that those things were declared in actual words uttered by the Lord means direct Divine inspiration in all other stages of revelation as well. The reason why those tablets were made of stone was that 'stone' means truth, 643, 1298, 3720, 6426, the lowest levels of truth, to be exact, 8609. The lowest levels of God's truth constitute the letter of the Word as it exists on this planet, 9360.

[2] There was not one tablet but two, to represent the joining of the Lord to the Church through the Word, and through the Church to the human race. This also is why they are called the tablets of the covenant, Deuteronomy 9:9, 11, 15, and why the words inscribed on them are called the words of the covenant, Exodus 34:27-28, also the covenant, Deuteronomy 4:13, 23. And the ark itself in which the tablets had been deposited was called the ark of the covenant, Numbers 10:33; 14:44; Deuteronomy 10:8; 31:9, 25-26; Joshua 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. For a covenant is a joining together, 665, 666, 1023, 1038, 1864, 1996, 2003, 2021, 6804, 8767, 8778, 9396. This explains why those tablets were divided from each other yet were joined together by being laid alongside each other. The writing on them ran across continuously from one tablet onto the other, like the writing on a single tablet. It was not, as people ordinarily think, that some commandments were written on one tablet and some on the other. For a single object divided in two, and the two parts then brought together or given each to the other, means the Lord and man joined together. The establishment of covenants was therefore accomplished in similar ways, that with Abraham for example by parting down the middle a heifer, she-goat, and ram, and laying each part opposite the other, Genesis 15:9-12; in verses 6 and 8 of the present chapter by putting blood in bowls and then sprinkling it half over the altar and half over the people; and generally in all sacrifices by burning one part on the altar and giving the other part to the people to eat. The like was also represented by the Lord when He broke bread, Matthew 14:19; 15:36; 26:26; Mark 6:41; 8:6; 14:22; Luke 9:16; 22:19; 24:30-31, 35. Here also is the reason why 'two' in the Word means things joined together, 5194, 8423, here the Lord and heaven, or the Lord and the Church, joined together, thus also goodness and truth joined together, which is called the heavenly marriage. From all this it becomes clear why it is that there were two tablets and that both sides of them were written on, from edge to edge, Exodus 32:15-16.

[3] Furthermore when the writing and engraving on tablets is mentioned in the Word it means those things that must be imprinted in people's memory and on their life, and so remain there, as in Isaiah,

Write it on a tablet among them, and express it in a book, ¹ so that it may be for time to come forever, even to eternity. Isaiah 30:8.

In Jeremiah,

The sin of Judah has been written with a pen of iron; with a point of diamond it has been engraved on the tablet of their heart, and at the horns of your altars. Jeremiah 17:1.

In Habakkuk,

Jehovah said, Write the vision, and make it plain on tablets, that one running by may read it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time; if it tarries, wait for it, because it will surely come. Habakkuk 2:2-3.

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4299. 'For I have seen God face to face, and my soul is delivered' means that He suffered the severest temptations, seemingly attributable to the Divine. This is clear from the meaning of 'seeing God' as going closer to Him by means of interior things, that is to say, by means of goods and truths, and consequently as presence, dealt with in 4198; and from the meaning of 'the face' as interior things, dealt with in 1999, 2434, 3527, 3573, 4066, and so as thoughts and affections, for affections and thoughts are interior things because they belong to the disposition and mind (animus et mens) and reveal themselves in the face; and from the meaning of 'my soul is delivered' as suffering God's presence. The fact that all these words mean that He suffered the severest temptations seemingly attributable to the Divine, cannot be seen from anything else than the immediate causes and the remote causes of temptations. The evils and falsities present with a person which lead him into temptations, and therefore the evil spirits and genii who instill them are the immediate causes, 4249. Nevertheless, no one can be tempted, that is, undergo any spiritual temptation, except him who has a conscience. Indeed spiritual temptation is nothing else than the torture of a person's conscience, and consequently none can be tempted but those who are governed by celestial and spiritual good. For the latter have conscience, but all others do not; indeed they do not even know what conscience is.

[2] Conscience is a new will and a new understanding received from the Lord, and so is the Lord's presence with a person, a presence which becomes all the closer the more the person is stirred by the affection for good or for truth. If the closeness of the Lord's presence exceeds the amount of affection for good or for truth in him, he enters into temptation. The reason why is that the evils and falsities which reside with him, and which are moderated by the goods and truths residing with him, cannot suffer that closer presence. This becomes clear from the following things that happen in the next life: Evil spirits cannot by any means move towards any heavenly community without starting to feel distress and torment; also, evil spirits cannot stand angels looking at them because they are instantly tormented and collapse unconscious. And in addition there is the fact that hell is remote from heaven, for the reason that it cannot suffer heaven, that is, the Lord's presence in heaven. This explains why in the Word it is said in reference to evil spirits,

Then they will begin to say to the mountains, Fall on us; and to the hills, Cover us. Luke 23:30.

And elsewhere,

They will say to the mountains and rocks, Rush down on us and hide us from the face of Him who is seated on the throne. Revelation 6:16.

Also the sphere of cloud and thick darkness which emanates from the evils and falsities of those in hell looks like a mountain or rock beneath which they are hidden, see 1265, 1267, 1270.

[3] From these considerations it can now be recognized that 'I have seen God face to face and my soul is delivered' means the severest temptations, seemingly attributable to the Divine. Temptations and torments do seem to be attributable to the Divine because they arise, as has been stated, through the Lord's Divine presence. Yet they do not originate in the Divine or the Lord but in the evils and falsities residing with the person who is being tempted or tormented. From the Lord nothing else proceeds but a holiness which is good and true and merciful, and it is this holiness - which is good, true, and merciful - that those subject to evils and falsities cannot suffer; for such evils and falsities are opposite or contrary to it. Evils, falsities, and lack of mercy are bent all the time on doing violence to those qualities belonging to holiness; and in the measure they assail these, they themselves suffer torment. And when they assail them and consequently suffer torment they imagine that it is the Divine who torments them. These are the considerations meant by 'seemingly attributable to the Divine'.

[4] It was well known to the ancients that no one can see Jehovah face to face and live, and from them knowledge of the same came down to the descendants of Jacob. This explains why they were so glad when they saw any angel and remained alive, as in the Book of Judges,

Gideon saw that he was the angel of Jehovah, therefore Gideon said, O Lord Jehovih! Inasmuch as I have seen the angel of Jehovah face to face. And Jehovah said to him, Peace be to you; do not fear, for you will not die. Judges 6:22-23.

In the same book, Manoah said to his wife, We shall surely die, for we have seen God. Judges 13:22.

And in Moses, Jehovah said to Moses, You cannot see My face, for no man will see Me and live. Exodus 33:20.

[5] The reason why it is said of Moses that he spoke to Jehovah face to face, Exodus 33:11, and that Jehovah knew him face to face, Deuteronomy 34:10, is that He showed Himself to him in a human form suited to his reception, which was an external form - as a bearded old man sitting with him, as I have learned from angels. For the same reason the Jews had no other idea of Jehovah than of one who was very old with a long white beard, who was better able to perform miracles than other gods. They did not have the idea of His being the most holy because they did not know what holiness was, let alone that they could not in any way see the holiness proceeding from Him because they were governed by bodily and earthly love devoid of internal holiness, 4289, 4293.