10603. 'Hew for yourself two tablets of stone like the first ones' means the kind of outward form that the Word, the Church, and worship take on account of that nation. This is clear from the meaning of 'tablets of stone' as the outward form that the Word takes, dealt with in 10453, 10461 (the outward form the Word takes is its literal sense), the reason why the outward form that the Church and worship take is also meant being that the Church owes its existence to the Word, as worship does too (for all the truth of faith and all the good of love which constitute the Church, and worship as well, must come from the Word; and since the Word possesses an outward form and an inner substance, so too do the Church and worship); from the meaning of 'hewing them', when done by Moses, as making the outward form such as it is on account of that nation, dealt with below; and from the meaning of 'like the first ones' as in imitation of them, for the first were made by Jehovah but these by Moses.

[2] Moses' breaking of the ones that had been made by Jehovah, when he saw that nation worshipping the golden calf in place of Jehovah ¹ , was providential, because it was impossible for the outward form of the Word, meant by 'the two tablets of stone', to be properly written among that nation, which at heart was wholly idolatrous. This is why the first tablets were broken and Moses was then told to hew others in imitation of the first. They are said to be in imitation of them because the inward sense remained the same, only the outward sense was changed. The inward sense is meant when it says that Jehovah wrote on these tablets the same words as were on the previous ones.

[3] To make this matter easier to understand let the ways in which the outward or literal sense was changed on account of that nation be demonstrated here. On account of this nation altars, burnt offerings, sacrifices, minchahs, and drink offerings were commanded, and therefore are referred to in both the historical sections and the prophetical parts of the Word as the holiest things of worship. But they were in fact no more than concessions made to that nation, for they began with Eber and had been completely unknown in the representative Ancient Church, see 1128, 2180, 2818.

[4] It was also on account of this nation that Divine worship was performed solely in Jerusalem, and that therefore this city was considered to be holy, and was also called holy, in both the historical sections and the prophetical parts of the Word. The reason for this was that at heart this nation was idolatrous, and therefore unless they had all come together in that city at every particular feast each would have worshipped in his own place some gentile god, or a carved or molded image.

It was on account of this nation too that performing holy worship on mountains and in groves, as the ancients had done, was forbidden. This was so that they would not set up idols there or worship the actual trees.

[5] It was likewise on account of this nation that a man was permitted to marry a number of wives, which had been completely unknown in ancient times, and also to put his wives away on various grounds. Consequently laws were laid down regarding such marriages and divorces which would not otherwise have found their way into the outward sense of the Word, which is why in Matthew 19:8 the Lord declares these laws in the outward sense to be Moses' and a concession because of the hardness of their hearts.

It is on account of this nation that Jacob and also the twelve sons of Israel are referred to so many times as the only chosen ones and heirs, for example in Revelation 7:4-8, and in other places, in spite of what they were really like, as described in the Song of Moses, Deuteronomy 32:15-43, and also in places throughout the Prophets, and by the Lord Himself; not to mention other things responsible for the outward form the Word takes on account of that nation.

[6] This particular outward form is what is meant by the two tablets hewn by Moses. The fact that this outward form or sense nevertheless holds the inward Divine sense unchanged within it is meant when it says that Jehovah wrote on these tablets the same words as were on the first ones.

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10453. 'And the tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, engraved on the tablets' means the outward sense of the Word and the inward - which come from the Divine - and Divine Truth. This is clear from the meaning of 'the tablets' as the Word in its entirety, dealt with immediately above in 10452, but at this point the outward form of the Word, dealt with below; from the meaning of 'the work of God' as its coming from the Divine; from the meaning of 'the writing' as the inward form of the Word, also dealt with below, so that 'the writing of God' is the inward form of the Word coming from the Divine, and thus is Divine Truth; and from the meaning of 'engraved on the tablets' as the inward impressed on and so contained within the outward.

[2] The reason why the tablets here mean the outward form of the Word is that they are distinguished here from the writing, which is its inward form; but when they are not distinguished from the writing they mean the inward and the outward forms of the Word together, thus the Word in its entirety, as above in 10452. They are distinguished here because these tablets were broken, but nevertheless the same words were afterwards inscribed by Jehovah on the other tablets which were hewn by Moses. The outward form of the Word is its literal sense, the inward form is its internal sense. The former - the literal sense - is meant by 'the tablets', because this sense is like a tablet or level surface on which the internal sense is inscribed.

[3] The breaking by Moses of the tablets which were the work of God, when he saw the calf and the dances, and the hewing by Moses, as commanded by Jehovah, of other tablets, which then had the same words inscribed on them (so that the tablets were no longer the work of God but the work of Moses, though the writing was still the writing of God), hold an arcanum unknown up to now. The arcanum is that the literal sense of the Word would have been different if the Word had been written among another people, or if the character of the Israelite people had not been such as it was. For the literal sense of the Word is all about that people since the Word was written among them, as is evident from both the historical sections and the prophetical parts of the Word. They were a people steeped in evil because they were idolatrous at heart; yet in order that the internal sense and the external sense might be in agreement that people had to be highly acclaimed, and to be called God's people, a holy nation, and a peculiar treasure. Consequently the simple, who would be taught by means of the outward sense of the Word, would believe that that nation was all those things, as that nation itself also believes, and indeed as the majority in the Christian world do at the present day. Most of the things furthermore that present themselves in and constitute the outward sense of the Word were ones that were permitted on account of their hardness of heart, such as those referred to in Matthew 19:8 and also others which need not be mentioned here.

[4] Since therefore the literal sense of the Word came to be what it was because of what those people were like, the tablets which were the work of God were broken and others, as commanded by Jehovah, were hewn by Moses. But since they nevertheless had the same holy and Divine content within them the same words as were on the first tablets were inscribed by Jehovah on them, as is evident from the following verses in Moses,

Jehovah said to Moses, Hew for yourself two tablets of stone like the first ones, and I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets which you broke. And Jehovah wrote on those tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Words. Exodus 34:1, 4, 28.

And elsewhere,

At that time Jehovah said to me, Hew for yourself two tablets of stone like the first ones, and I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets which you broke. And Jehovah wrote on the tablets according to the first writing, the Ten Words. Afterwards Jehovah gave them to me. Deuteronomy 10:1-4.

[5] The fact that Jehovah did not acknowledge that people as His own people - even though they were called such so that the inward sense would accord with the outward - but as Moses' people is clear from the present chapter,

Your people have corrupted themselves, whom you caused to come up out of the land of Egypt. Go! lead the people to what I have spoken of to you. Exodus 32:7, 34.

And further on,

And Jehovah spoke to Moses, Go up, you and the people whom you have caused to come up out of the land of Egypt, to the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And I will send an angel before you, for I will not go up in your midst because you ¹ are a stiff-necked people. Exodus 33:1-3.

[6] The like is meant by Moses' being put in the hole of the rock, and his not being allowed to see Jehovah's face, but only His back parts, Exodus 33:22-23. The like is also meant, when the skin on Moses' face shone, by his putting a veil onto his face whenever he talked to the children of Israel, Exodus 34:30-35. What the character of that people would be is foretold by Jehovah to Abram, when he wanted his seed to inherit the land of Canaan, where it is stated that after Abram had parted down the middle the three year old heifer, the three year old she-goat, and the three year old ram, which served for entering into a covenant,

A deep sleep came over Abram, and behold, a dread of a great darkness was coming over him. And when the sun went down there was thick darkness, and behold, a smoking furnace, and a flaming torch which passed between these pieces. Genesis 15:8, 9, 12, 17.

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