8940. 'And if you make for Me an altar of stones' means a representative kind of worship in general that is composed of truths. This is clear from the meaning of 'an altar' as a representative of Divine worship in general, dealt with in 921, 2777, 2811, 4489; and from the meaning of 'stones' as truths, dealt with in 643, 1298, 3720, 3769, 3771, 3773, 3789, 3798, 6426, 8609. There is worship of the Lord that springs from good, and there is worship of Him that springs from truth. Worship of the Lord springing from good was represented by an altar of soil, and worship springing from truth by an altar of stone. Regarding the first and the second kinds of worship, see above in 8935. It was because an altar of stone was a sign of worship springing from truth that they were commanded to set up such an altar as soon as they crossed the Jordan and came into the land of Canaan, and to write on it the Commandments contained in the Law, that is, God's truths from heaven. For by the Ten Commandments are meant all God's truths in summary form. That altar is spoken of in Moses as follows,

When you cross the Jordan you shall set up for yourself large stones, and coat them with lime. Then you shall write on them all the words of the Law. Afterwards, you shall build there an altar to Jehovah your God, an altar of stones, which you shall not hew with any iron tool. ¹ With whole stones you shall build the altar of Jehovah your God, and present ² on it burnt offerings and eucharistic offerings. And you shall write on the stones of the altar the words of the Law, expressing them very plainly. Deuteronomy 27:1-8; Joshua 8:30-32.

[2] The reason why they were to write the words of the Law on stones of the altar was that truths were meant by 'stones', and worship that springs from truths by 'an altar of stones'. This was also the reason why the Ten Commandments, which were a sign of Divine Truths in their entirety, were inscribed on tablets of stone. The reason why it had to be done as soon as they crossed the Jordan was that the Jordan, which was the first and outermost boundary of the land of Canaan on the side where the wilderness lay, meant introduction into the Church or heaven, which is accomplished through cognitions or knowledge of truth and good, thus through truths from the Word, 4255. For all the rivers serving as boundaries of that land meant the first and outermost reaches of the Lord's kingdom, 4116, 4240. By 'the stones of the altar' the truths of faith are also meant in Isaiah,

He will remove sin when He makes all the stones of the altar like chalk-stones scattered about. Isaiah 27:9

This refers to the ruination of the Church. 'The stones of the altar like chalk-stones scattered about' stands for the truths of faith that inspire worship after something similar has happened to them. As regards altars in general, they were made out of soil, stones, bronze, wood, and also gold - out of bronze, wood, and gold because these materials served to mean good. For an altar of bronze, see Ezekiel 9:2; for an altar of wood, Ezekiel 41:22; and for an altar of gold, which was the altar of incense, 1 Kings 6:22; 7:48; Revelation 8:3. That 'bronze' means good, see 425, 1551; that 'wood' does so, 643, 2784, 2812, 3720, 8354; and that 'gold' does so as well, 113, 1551, 1552, 5658.

Poznámky pod čarou:

2329. 'He said, Behold now, my Lords' means interior acknowledgement and confession of the Lord's Divine Human and His Holy proceeding. This is clear from the acknowledgement and humiliation already referred to just above. Confession follows immediately after them here, for confession is meant by his saying, 'Behold now, my Lords'. Interior confession belongs to the heart, and manifests itself in humiliation and at the same time in the affection for good, whereas exterior confession belongs to the lips, which may manifest itself in a spurious humiliation and a spurious affection for good which is none at all, as with people who confess the Lord for the sake of their own reputation or rather worship of self, and for the sake of their own material gain. What these people confess with the lips they deny in the heart.

[2] The plural 'my Lords' is used for the same reason that 'three men' are spoken of in the previous chapter. For just as the three there mean the Divine itself, the Divine Human, and the Holy proceeding, so the two mentioned here mean the Lord's Divine Human and His Holy proceeding, as stated above. That these make one is well known to anyone inside the Church, and because they make one they are also referred to in the singular further on,

So it was, when they had brought them outside, that he said, Escape for your life. Verse 17.

Behold now, your servant has found grace in your eyes, and you have magnified your mercy which you have shown to me. Verse 19.

And he said to him, Behold, I have accepted you as regards this matter also, that I will not overthrow the city. Verse 21.

For I cannot do anything until you come to it. Verse 22.

[3] That the Divine itself, the Divine Human, and the Holy proceeding are Jehovah is clear from the previous chapter, where in various places the three men are called Jehovah, namely,

Jehovah said to Abraham. Verse 13.

Will anything be too wonderful for Jehovah? Verse 14.

Abraham still stood before Jehovah. Verse 22.

Jehovah departed, when He had finished speaking to Abraham. Verse 33.

Consequently the Divine Human and the Holy proceeding are Jehovah, for this name is used for both in verse 24 of the present chapter.

And Jehovah rained on Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from Jehovah out of heaven. Verse 24.

The internal sense of these words will be seen later on. As regards the Lord being Jehovah Himself, who is mentioned so many times in the historical and prophetical sections of the Old Testament, see 1736.

[4] Those who are truly members of the Church, that is, who are governed by love to the Lord and by charity towards the neighbour, know about and acknowledge the Trinity; but nevertheless they humble themselves before the Lord and worship Him alone. They do so because they know that there is no other way of reaching the Divine itself, called the Father, except through the Son, and that all the Holiness which the Holy Spirit possesses proceeds from Him. When this idea exists with them they worship none except Him, through whom and from whom all things have their being, and so worship One Being. Nor do they disperse their ideas among three, as many others inside the Church are wont to do.

[5] This is evident from very many people in the next life, including some learned, who during their lifetime have presumed themselves to have a firmer grip on the arcana of faith than all others. When these people have been examined in the next life to see what idea they had had concerning the one God - whether there were three Uncreated, three Infinites, three Eternals, three Almighties, and three Lords - it was quite obvious that they had had the idea of three beings (for in that world the communication of ideas takes place). They have had that idea even though the creed states explicitly that there are not three Uncreated, or three Infinites, or three Eternals, or three Almighties, or three Lords, but one - which is also the truth. They accordingly confessed that with their lips they had indeed spoken of God being one; but in spite of this they had thought of - and some had believed in - three whom they could separate in idea but not join together.

[6] The reason is that for all arcana, even the deepest, some idea exists, for without the existence of an idea nothing is able to be thought about nor indeed anything retained in the memory. In the next life therefore the nature of the thought, and consequently of the faith, that anyone has formulated for himself concerning the One God is clear as daylight. Indeed when Jews in the next life hear that the Lord is Jehovah and that only one God exists they have nothing to say; but when they perceive that Christians' ideas are divided into three they say that they themselves worship one God whereas Christians worship three. What is more, nobody is able to join together three thus separated in idea except those who have the faith that comes with charity - for the Lord accommodates their minds to Himself.