10479. 'And Moses saw that the people had become undisciplined' means that the internal perceived that this nation had turned away from what was internal and so from what was Divine. This is clear from the meaning of 'seeing' as perceiving; from the representation of 'Moses' as the internal, dealt with above in 10468; and from the meaning of 'becoming undisciplined' as turning away, at this point away from what is internal, and so from what is Divine, as accords with the explanation above in 10472. The word used in the original language furthermore means to turn away and retreat, also to be made naked; and 'to be made naked' means to be stripped of the good of love and the truths of faith, which constitute the internal things of the Church and its worship, 9960.

10468. 'And Moses said to Aaron' means perception from the internal regarding that kind of external. This is clear from the meaning of 'saying' as perception, dealt with in the places referred to 10290; from the representation of 'Moses' as the Word, dealt with in the places referred to in 9372, at this point the internal side of it; and from the representation of 'Aaron' as the external side of the Word, the Church, and worship, dealt with above in 10397. The reason why 'Moses' here represents the internal is that he is talking to Aaron, who represents the external. Here it makes no difference whether you say the internal and the external sides of the Word or simply the internal and the external. For the Word is Divine Truth, the source of perception that a person has, at this point perception regarding the kind of external that existed with the Israelite nation, not only in its worship but also in everything belonging to the Church and everything belonging to the Word. It should be remembered that all perception regarding what is external comes from what is internal. For things present on an external level are visible from an internal level; but they are not visible from the external level on which they are present, and those present on the internal level are even less visible from there. This explains why those whose interest lies in external things and not in what is internal do not acknowledge internal things, because they do not discern and see them with their bodily senses, and also why some deny the existence of those things, and everything heavenly and Divine along with them.